Introduction:
Over the 20th century, Mollenkopf and Castell (1992) argued New York City has become a poorer, smaller and in some respects less economically important part of the nation. Simultaneously, the global city has remained dominant in thriving economic activities often associated with the international economy. Ultimately, the city has had a long history of concurrent growth and decay. To provide an in-depth analysis of New York’s economic development path, the essay will focus specifically on the economic developments and challenges between 1940’s and 1990’s. Analysis will be focused on three distinct phases and will examine the role of New York as an economic global city. The first of these phases is the recovery after the Second World War and the role manufacturing
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Government institutions tend to keep their distances from private firms and industries in neoliberal states and cities. Instead, their main role in these economies is to constitute market rules via legislation, to then enforce these rules through their regulatory capacity (Coe et al., 2013). In the United States, Coe et al., (2013) argued antitrust and competitive market rule have led to the expansion of a particular kind of investment regime that govern the market; onein which American firms became dependent on capital markets for their investment needs. The ability to maximise shareholder value worked in conjunction with New York firm’s performance. Hence, introduced regimes that lead to a particular kind of flexible market practices where short-term investors exerted a great deal of influence (Coe et al., 2013). As an attempt to avert the declining economy, actors such as financial elites and real estate agents shifted the power relations of economic activity from the city’s
Ehrenhalt, Alan (2012-04-24). The Great Inversion and the Future of the American City (Kindle Location 283). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
When people think of Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, they think of crime and violence within the neighborhood. I myself have thought this about Bedford Stuyvesant before I did research and actually visited the neighborhood for myself. Bedford Stuyvesant in my opinion, has two different sides. The side the media portrays to us, the people, and the side people who actually visit/live in the neighborhood see for themselves. My visual representation above shows the two different sides of Bedford Stuyvesant. The first image shows the typical view of what people think of when they think of Bedford Stuyvesant, the projects. When people think of this neighborhood, they think of project buildings housing low income black families. The media portrays Bedford Stuyvesant as a
Once the war ended, soldiers returned home to find a prosperous economy with innovations and jobs. Sub-sequentially, in 1950 and 1960, the commodity industry was booming and citizens had disposable money to spend (Broughton 27). Manufacturing towns such as Galesburg saw immense prosperity. In ten years leading up to 1974, manufacturing jobs increased by 62% in 1974 and the area was quickly coined Appliance City (Broughton 33). However the economy started to shift and these companies needed to find ways to cut their costs and remain competitive to make a profit. For the decision makers in these firms, “everything boiled down to economics… what can a company do to reduce or minimize their costs” (Broughton 82). Instead of attracting cheaper labor, Maytag and other manufacturing companies relocated their plants in less developed companies, such as Mexico. This environment provided cheaper resources of all kinds. Maytag closed its Galesburg facility to open one in Reynosa Mexico and several other companies did the same. From 1998 to 2003, the United States lost three million manufacturing jobs (Broughton 64). This drastically killed American towns that were reliant on these jobs. Towns such as Galesburg lost their jobs and became a ghost
Abu-Lughod, Janet L. New York, Chicago, Los Angeles: America's Global Cities. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 1999. Print.
Scheiber, H., H. Vatter, and H. Underwood Faulkner. American Economic History. New York : Harper &
New Amsterdam became New York and changed hands from the Dutch to the English. But it is not only Dutch place names and styles of architecture scattered across the five boroughs and all of the Empire State that beat witness to this moment in history. The values of openness, tolerance, liberalism and engagement with the world remain the hallmarks of New York, city and state alike. They have made it one of the economic, intellectual and cultural centers of the
During the last 40 years of the nineteenth century the United States became the worlds greatest economic power. The rapid rate of economic growth happened for a
On the heels of war, new technology caused a decrease in prices of goods in the 1920’s and in the 1950’s the GI Bill increased income. The bureaucratization of business in the 1920’s meant that more people could be employed in higher paying white-collar jobs than before, including, for the first time, housewives. This new income combined with the reduced prices for goods that resulted from mechanized production, assembly lines and a general decrease of the cost of technology created a thriving consumerist middle class that went on to fuel the economy in all sectors, especially the upper classes. Likewise, during World War II Americans saved up around 150 billion dollars, and this sum combined with the income of the GI Bill allowed normal people to buy expensive things, from houses to cars to electronics to educations at a rapid rate, fueling the trademark prosperity of the 1950’s. The new automobile culture of the 50’s spawned new businesses that catered to mobile Americans, such as nicer and more standardized hotels like Holiday Inn, and drive-up restaurants like McDonalds. Just as the culture of the 1920’s was transfo...
Businesses and large corporations were essential to the economy of the United States but concealed their genuine intentions. Factory owners provided jobs and income to the household of not only the American people, but also immigrants. In addition, the government believed that corporate owners are crucial since they’re the backbone of productivity which stimulates the economy. On the contrary, David Von Drehle spilled the dirty work of industrial owners. Competition among businesses is known to be a healthy act but it was a hindrance for owners to become even richer. They generated the practice of monopoly, which occurs when a corporation owns all the market of given merchandise, by lowering the prices of commodities until their competitors close down. It was very common in the urban areas of New York state considering that “there were more than five hundred blouse factories [since] the waist industry was booming” (8). After a successful scheme of shutting down other businesses, monopoly owners began to increase prices and in...
The adventurous but interesting story of how the United States of America became a global power in the world economy can be traced to the ingenuity of a small group of men, who defied all odds to construct a link between the Atlantic Ocean and the great Lakes - the “Erie Canal”, constructed in the eighteenth century America, was a 363 miles artificial waterway that connected the eastern seaboard with New York through Albany. In the book “the Wedding of the Waters” Peter Bernstein clinically depicts the story of how the Erie Canal shaped the economy of America, strengthened the Industrial Revolution, and actuated globalization. Not only was the project a large scale engineering that was completely man-made, it was also unique in that there was
Jonnes, Jill. “South Bronx rising: the rise, fall, and resurrection of an American city.” New York: Fordham University Press. (1986).
During the aftermath of World War I great change was happening to America’s society. Of the nations that were involved in the worldwide conflict from 1914 to 1918 no other nation experienced prosperity socially, politically, and economically as quickly as did the United States of America. The middle-class American suddenly became the most important component to the growth of the American economy. As the purchase of luxuries, the automobile in particular, became more available to middle-class, opportunity in the housing and labor industries expanded.
A competitive market makes a country stronger but without regulation it can threaten the country’s democracy. The President criticized the large corporations for “keeping prices artificially high and failing to increase workers’ purchasing power”(Liberty 863). Franklin D Roosevelt realized large corporations who gained monopolies were gaining immense influence on matter’s concerning government and the daily lives of American citizens. The first New Deal reforms were introduced, not to dismantle large industries but to control them in such a manner that they could never challenge the democratic government. Large corporations took advantage of the liberty given to them prior to the crash by exploiting the profits in payoffs or bribes. The businesses gained influence in government by funding election campaigns of tainted politicians who would in return be blinded of the corruption spread by the untouchable corporations to expand their profit margins.
People always wonder why the City of Angels is different from other cities. This paper will answer this question and explain the uniqueness that makes L.A., “L.A.” Los Angeles, since its birth as an embryonic city, has become one of the most diverse metropolises, offering to the public what no other city can. This paper will emphasize the relationship between the federal government and the western United States. It will also illustrate how capitalism has flourished because of the prevalent 19th century Laissez Faire ideology. It will describe how the free market prevailed and expanded Los Angeles outward, while cultivating new public institutions and private enterprises.
Jackson, Kenneth T. The Encyclopedia of New York City. 2nd ed. New York City: Yale University Press, 2010.