New York City's Role in the World Economy - Essay Example

NEW YORK HISTORY New York History Name Course Institution Instructor June 12, 2011 New York History Impact of New York City’s evolving role in the world economy New York City is one of the cities that have been regarded as a hub of various economic and social activities compared to other cities in the globe. It has played a pivotal role in the general development and improvement of the global economy because it has acted a headquarters or link for various business organizations that stems across the world. Historically, New York began with the documentation of the area by a European known as Giovanni de verrazzano in command of a French ship when he visited the area in the year 1524 1(Gutman, 2007). The area later became the field for multiple battles of the so-called American revolutionary war; including the battle of Brooklyn, which has been regarded as a historical largest battle of war. In the war, the British won the battle and they occupied the city from September of 1776 to late 1783, thereafter George Washington took the throne of leadership becoming the first president of United States of America in 1789 in which New York served as the capital city of United States 2(Gutman, 2007). In the 1920s, New York City was the most densely populated city in the world due to migration of the African- Americans, flourishing in economy leading to construction of skyscrapers like the Art-deco Masterpieces being part of the city’s skyline 3(Gutman, 2007). Today New York City started realizing its economic growth on returning home of the war veterans from the World War II. The war veterans saw the coming up of housing in the eastern Queens. The city after World War II was the leading in development all over the world and this prompted the United Nations moving its headquarters from Flushing Meadows Park since New York City was the only one in the world having wall streets. Due to the fast growth of the city, service economy overload the industrial sector which saw the large ship and garment making depreciating seeing the ports turning to container ships rendering many people working there jobless. Distant towns and cities welcomed many high riding business empires coming to set their headquarters there. The New York City has dominated the United States economy in financial, cultural commercial, financial and information sectors having seen huge returns on investing in service industries like medicine, education, finance, law, communications and tourism. Black panthers and young lords living in the city were overcame by racism and thus organized robberies building amenities like health clinics to win the hearts of the people. This saw a very sharp decline in the economy since group was running against the propriety of the government making the city being termed as the crime-ridden relic of history in1975 4(Dolkart, 2006). New York City’s alarming evolvement and high rate of crime and poverty ended after disruption of trade routes just after the World War 1. This was due to the introduction of the immigration Restriction Act, which limited additional immigration after the war, and the Great Depression that ended the need for new labor together with the rule of Gilded Age Barons. The city’s demographics stability came because of labor unionization brought about by new protections and affluence to the working class, the city’s government, and dramatic overhaul in the infrastructure. The contribution of Fiorello La Guardia together with his controversial parks commissioner, Robert Moses, brought to an end the blight of many tenements areas, expanded new parks, restricted and reorganized zoning controls as well as remaking streets. New York’s role as a global city has attracted almost over 500 foreign bank offices .The location of foreign bank offices and assets in the city reflects the concentration of U.S based international activity, and the U.S bank branches (which are the most common American bank facilities overseas) and their assets highlights the concentration of foreign based international activity. Commercial banks prefer branches because they are able to offer a variety of banking services and are under the direct control of the parent bank offices located in the United States city of New York. Moreover, within the central business district of the New York City, new intra-urban fiber optic systems were built by the Regional Bell Operating Companies and by new competitors seeking to attract the information intensive firms situated at the key central business district. Economically New York City over centuries has grown in leaps and bounds and has exuded itself in world map of progressive cities. It has impacted enormously on the world economy and specifically on the American economy because it has spurred it to higher levels of economic growth and development. Evolvement and bolstered role of New York City in the global economy is a reality that is implicit in the general face of economies of nations of the globe and it bears substantial impact on them. In 1980s, New York City saw the rebirth of Wall Street and this reality marshaled back the city as a center of the financial industry of the world 5(Yamin, 1997). The city later resumed its stature of strong social and economic powerhouse that was enhanced by the influx of Asians, Latinos, and US citizens themselves because technical skills and labor became readily available as well as market because of the ballooning population in New York City. The other factor that reinforced New York City as a central nerve for the global economy is benefit it got from the thriving financial sector such as the silicon alley during the epoch of dot com boom that greatly revolutionized the technological and communication development of the city. Real estates values and development is also one of the aspects that placed New York City in a strong position in regard to the whole economy because it is one of the city whereby real estates business and mortgage business is all times higher and aggressive. As indicated above New York, population is tremendously growing due to influx of Asians, Africans, and Latin Americans among other groups. In 2000 census New York’s population hit all time high and since then it has been growing rapidly especially in urbanized borough, for instance, Manhattan 6(Yamin, 1997). Moreover, while the international trade is a central component of the U.S economy, New York City is regarded as a means to attainment of these phenomena because it is the face of U.S economy in the field of international forces. A characteristic expansion of economy of the 1980s and 1990s New York City experienced huge net inflows of foreign capital and this bolstered enormously the stake of New York City in the leagues of world economies and emerged as the big player and one that hold huge role in the global economy 7(Jacobs, 1961). This positioning of the New York City in world economy has had impact on its own development. This is because there are externalities that come about with it; after being considered as hub for various economic and social activities there has been improvements and establishment of infrastructure, financial sector, and transport among others that has resulted in self-development of the New York City. Telecommunication systems has been enhanced so as to allow firms to overcome the traditional limits of distance and to permit what were once separate economic activities to become highly integrated functions. Multinational firms established their headquarters in the city and although it is headquartered in one location, they produce and sell a diversity of goods and services in numerous countries across the globe and this boosted and developed New York City. Information and computer systems has been accentuated in the city and it has enable a relatively small number of people to control and coordinate activities like production, marketing, and financing from rather geographically remote points. This has been made possible through new intra-urban fiber optic systems in the New York City that has been built by the Regional Bell Operating Companies and by new competitors who are seeking to attract the information intensive firms located in key central cities 8(Cantrell & Wall, 2001). The New York Telephone has built three fiber optic networks around the Manhattan and an inter borough fiber network that links several counties adjacent to Manhattan. In the same spirit, Teleport Communications Inc. has installed 150 miles fiber that not only provides access to their communications satellite park but also provides access to various information and communication platforms 9(Jacobs, 1961). The other impact of the New York City’s evolving role in the world economy which has resulted in its own development is the fact that American bank branches overseas and foreign bank offices has grown over recent years in the city. This growth and influx of foreign financial institutions in the city reflects the dramatic increases in international trade, money market, and foreign investment that technological advances in transportation sector and communications have fostered. As a result of these forces, in New York commercial banks have opened offices in key markets around the city and have established global networks that operate on a 24 hour basis. This development has created jobs for many people around the city as well as offered alternative banking products and services for business and population in the area. These issues have reinforced and uplifted the general landscape of socio-economic, cultural and even political of New Yorkers because there are tremendous positive externalities that trickles down from this phenomena for instance job opportunities, wider variety of services and products and market for producers who can get customers from all over the world because new York is the central market. References: Cantrell, A. & Wall, D. (2001). “ ‘We Were Here’: The African Presence in Colonial New York,” unearthing Gotham: The Archaeology of New York City. Dolkart, A. (2006). Biography of a Tenement in New York. Santa Fe36-58, 65-72, 82-94. Gutman, M. (2007). “Equipping the Public Realm: Rethinking Robert Moses & Recreation,” Robert Moses and the Modern City: The Transformation of New York, 72-85. Jacobs, J. (1961). The Death and Life of Great American Cities, 38-41, 50-54. Yamin, R. (1997). “New York’s Mythic Slum: Digging Lower Manhattan’s Infamous Five Points,” Archaeology. Read More