Global financial centers: shifting power balance

London and New York are the most important global financial centers in the world. Tokyo used to be considered the third global financial center, but has lost its position in the last 20 years, partly as a result of a sustained recession and partly because both Japanese society and Japanese economy are considered very closed. London and New York, of course, also represent the economic superpowers whose markets they cover—New York for the US and London not just for the UK but also for most of continental Europe. Tokyo has failed to become the Asian global financial center and is now reduced to being a very dominant national financial center of one of the world's main economies.