“Nylonkong” Emerges as Heart of Global Economy

“Nylonkong” is emerging in the era of 21st century financial economy, said the latest edition of Time magazine.

Nylonkong is a newly coined term for three cities- New York, London and Hong Kong.

The magazine said that if the 19th century was the age of imperialism and the 20th one of wars, the 21st century, to date, is an age of finance. It further said the three cities have created a financial network that has been able to lubricate the global economy.

The three port cities, each located in America, Europe and Asia, have advanced trade. All, once centers of manufacturing, have been able to shift their economic focus to the service sector. They also have one more common aspect – immigrant residents from all around the world. As of 2006, 34 percent of New Yorkers hailed from outside the U.S and 31 percent of London residents were born outside Britain. Hong Kong has the largest number of Chinese whose families have lived in other countries for generations.

The network of international trading and open and free economic culture enabled New York, London and Hong Kong to become the examples of globalization and facilitated their key industry—finance. The three cities are connected by hundreds of weekly direct flights and cutting-edge fiber-optic cables, the magazine noted.

These cities are also where the major international banks — Citigroup and HSBC, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan — have their headquarters and key regional offices. Ambitious companies seek financing or go public worth 40-54 billion dollars in these cities.

Last year, New York and London’s IPOs attracted $54 billion and $52.2 billion respectively. In 2006, businesses drew $40 billion through IPO in Hong Kong.

Time magazine evaluated that the three cities have transformed themselves with their own flexibility to lead globalization and that that is how they attract men and women in the financial sector who could choose to live anywhere.

orionha@donga.com