The End of New York City

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Today I was think ing about the New York City economy so and how it’s a mystery to me that it hasn’t tanked much further. I went over to Wikipedia to look at this article on New York City’s economy and found the following table, which I am lifting in its entirety. 

Of course there are other people who work in the city, in fields like advertising, marketing, law, consulting, architecture, and design. In other words, fields that service companies like those listed below. 

Companies in green are in finance, companies in yellow are in entertainment. Many, if not most, face insolvency.   

The Top 25 Fortune 500 Companies in New York City
rank in:corporationHeadquarters
(New York, NY)		Fortune 500 industry group2007
Revenues
($ million)		Stock
price
2008
NYCNYSUS
118Citigroup399 Park Ave. 10043Commercial Banks
$159,229
–77.2%
2212J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.270 Park Ave. 10017Commercial Banks
116,353
–27.8%
3313American International Group70 Pine St. 10270Insurance: Property and Casualty (stock)
110,064
–97.3%
4517Verizon Communications140 West St. 10007Telecommunications
98,786
–22.0%
5620Goldman Sachs Group85 Broad St. 10004Securities
93,775
–60.8%
6721Morgan Stanley1585 Broadway 10036Securities
87,968
–69.8%
7830Merrill Lynch4 World Financial Center 10080Securities
87,879
–78.3%
8937Lehman Brothers Holdings745 Seventh Ave. 10019Securities
64,217
 
91043MetLife200 Park Ave. 10166Insurance: Life, Health (stock)
59,003
–43.4%
101147Pfizer235 E. 42nd St. 10017Pharmaceuticals
53,150
–22.1%
111249Time Warner1 Time Warner Center 10019Entertainment
48,418
–39.1%
121475American Express200 Vesey St. 10285Diversified Financials
46,615
–64.3%
131577Hess Corporation1185 Sixth Ave. 10036Petroleum Refining
39,474
–46.8%
141680Alcoa390 Park Ave. 10022Metals
32,316
–69.2%
151782New York Life Insurance51 Madison Ave. 10010Insurance: Life, Health (mutual)
31,924
 
161884News Corporation1211 Sixth Ave. 10036Entertainment
30,748
–55.6%
171986TIAA-CREF730 Third Ave. 10017Insurance: Life, Health (mutual)
29,280
 
1820125Bristol-Myers Squibb345 Park Ave. 10154Pharmaceuticals
28,655
–12.3%
1921139Loews Corporation667 Madison Ave. 10021Insurance: Property and Casualty (stock)
27,526
–43.9%
2022156Bear Stearns383 Madison Ave. 10179Securities
19,977
 
2124172Bank of New York Mellon Corporation1 Wall Street 10286Commercial Banks
17,920
–41.9%
2225181CBS51 W. 52nd St. 10019Entertainment
16,151
–69.2%
2326182L-3 Communications600 Third Ave. 10016Aerospace and Defense
15,985
–30.4%
2427186Colgate-Palmolive300 Park Ave. 10022Household and Personal Products
14,798
–12.1%
2529191Viacom1515 Broadway 10036Entertainment
14,073
–54.3%
NYC = New York City; NYS = New York State; US = United States
All data except stock price changes are for either the calendar year ending on December 31, 2007 or the company’s fiscal year ending before February 1, 2008.
Stock price changes are for the calendar year 2008. Declines of over 50% are in boldface. Over the same period (December 31, 2007 to December 31, 2008), the 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average declined by 33.8% and the Standard & Poor’s index of 500 leading stocks declined by 38.5%. By the end of 2008, the stocks of Bear Stearns (acquired by JPMorgan Chase) and Lehman Brothers (in dissolution) were no longer being traded.
Sources: Fortune 500 website and Fortune, May 5, 2008 (Volume 157, number 9), pages F-1 to F-10, F-28, F-34, and F-40 to F-41.
Stock price change between December 31, 2007 and December 31, 2008 from "Year–End Review: Markets and Finance 2008", The Wall Street Journal, Friday, January 2, 2009 (Volume CCLIII, number 1), pages R-15 to R-18.

 

Today I was think ing about the New York City economy so and how it’s a mystery to me that it hasn’t tanked much further. I went over to Wikipedia to look at this article on New York City’s economy and found the following table, which I am lifting in its entirety. 

Of course there are other people who work in the city, in fields like advertising, marketing, law, consulting, architecture, and design. In other words, fields that service companies like those listed below. 

Companies in green are in finance, companies in yellow are in entertainment. Many, if not most, face insolvency.   

The Top 25 Fortune 500 Companies in New York City
rank in:corporationHeadquarters
(New York, NY)		Fortune 500 industry group2007
Revenues
($ million)		Stock
price
2008
NYCNYSUS
118Citigroup399 Park Ave. 10043Commercial Banks
$159,229
–77.2%
2212J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.270 Park Ave. 10017Commercial Banks
116,353
–27.8%
3313American International Group70 Pine St. 10270Insurance: Property and Casualty (stock)
110,064
–97.3%
4517Verizon Communications140 West St. 10007Telecommunications
98,786
–22.0%
5620Goldman Sachs Group85 Broad St. 10004Securities
93,775
–60.8%
6721Morgan Stanley1585 Broadway 10036Securities
87,968
–69.8%
7830Merrill Lynch4 World Financial Center 10080Securities
87,879
–78.3%
8937Lehman Brothers Holdings745 Seventh Ave. 10019Securities
64,217
 
91043MetLife200 Park Ave. 10166Insurance: Life, Health (stock)
59,003
–43.4%
101147Pfizer235 E. 42nd St. 10017Pharmaceuticals
53,150
–22.1%
111249Time Warner1 Time Warner Center 10019Entertainment
48,418
–39.1%
121475American Express200 Vesey St. 10285Diversified Financials
46,615
–64.3%
131577Hess Corporation1185 Sixth Ave. 10036Petroleum Refining
39,474
–46.8%
141680Alcoa390 Park Ave. 10022Metals
32,316
–69.2%
151782New York Life Insurance51 Madison Ave. 10010Insurance: Life, Health (mutual)
31,924
 
161884News Corporation1211 Sixth Ave. 10036Entertainment
30,748
–55.6%
171986TIAA-CREF730 Third Ave. 10017Insurance: Life, Health (mutual)
29,280
 
1820125Bristol-Myers Squibb345 Park Ave. 10154Pharmaceuticals
28,655
–12.3%
1921139Loews Corporation667 Madison Ave. 10021Insurance: Property and Casualty (stock)
27,526
–43.9%
2022156Bear Stearns383 Madison Ave. 10179Securities
19,977
 
2124172Bank of New York Mellon Corporation1 Wall Street 10286Commercial Banks
17,920
–41.9%
2225181CBS51 W. 52nd St. 10019Entertainment
16,151
–69.2%
2326182L-3 Communications600 Third Ave. 10016Aerospace and Defense
15,985
–30.4%
2427186Colgate-Palmolive300 Park Ave. 10022Household and Personal Products
14,798
–12.1%
2529191Viacom1515 Broadway 10036Entertainment
14,073
–54.3%
NYC = New York City; NYS = New York State; US = United States
All data except stock price changes are for either the calendar year ending on December 31, 2007 or the company’s fiscal year ending before February 1, 2008.
Stock price changes are for the calendar year 2008. Declines of over 50% are in boldface. Over the same period (December 31, 2007 to December 31, 2008), the 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average declined by 33.8% and the Standard & Poor’s index of 500 leading stocks declined by 38.5%. By the end of 2008, the stocks of Bear Stearns (acquired by JPMorgan Chase) and Lehman Brothers (in dissolution) were no longer being traded.
Sources: Fortune 500 website and Fortune, May 5, 2008 (Volume 157, number 9), pages F-1 to F-10, F-28, F-34, and F-40 to F-41.
Stock price change between December 31, 2007 and December 31, 2008 from "Year–End Review: Markets and Finance 2008", The Wall Street Journal, Friday, January 2, 2009 (Volume CCLIII, number 1), pages R-15 to R-18.

 

2 thoughts on “The End of New York City”

  1. so?
    In the worst economic environment in decades, it would be surprising if all of these countries weren’t in deep trouble. Is your point that New York would face dire trouble if these companies failed? No doubt, but it wouldn’t spell ruin the city – these firms are together only a small fraction of the city’s total employment or production. New York isn’t a company town – losing one or even twenty-five firms won’t sink it.
    While finance – the sector in the most danger – is a huge part of New York’s image and income, the region and city are diversified. The places in the biggest danger are smaller cities that have highly focused in finance. You might be surprised that 28% of the jobs in Bloomington, IL are in finance.
    Finance is a huge part of New York’s income, but keep in mind that New York’s service industries (advertising, media, design) serve national and international markets. In Bloomington or Charlotte, it’s reasonable to suppose that the service sectors are more locally focused, and therefore more vulnerable to downturns in the basic sector.

    Reply

  2. I wouldn’t exactly say these

    I wouldn’t exactly say these are a small fraction of the city’s economy. And no, I wouldn’t be surprised that Bloomington and Charlotte, or for that matter would be hit hard. I fully expect it. In the case of any city, New York included, what can you point to besides finance, insurance, construction, real estate, trade, advertising, and media. Columbia can’t support the entire city! Neither can hospitals. And I’m not sure what else is left. Take a look at these statistics. Our economy IS post-industrial. Manufacturing is a thing of the past while mining and agriculture have not exactly been strong points of the city in the recent past. I’m not sure what’s left. 

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