Money Centers

What cities will dominate tomorrow's global finance industries?

A recent special report, "Magnets for money," by The Economist runs a series of fascinating articles examining the global financial services industry. Today New York and London are the big dogs, but other cities, like Hong Kong and Singapore, show promise.

Draws heavily on City of London's "The Globabl Financial Centres Index," which in turn draws on a study by the City of New York, "Sustaining New York's and the US' Global Financial Services Leadership." GEO

The New New Math

Fuzzy wuzzy was just an idear,
Fuzzy wuzzy was worth $1 million squared.
Fuzzy wuzzy's buyer wasn't very good with math was he.

The New York Times reports on the vertigo-inducing valuations Silicon Valley companies are receiving lately. Money quote from Right Media’s chief technology officer, Brian O’Kelley, who became a millionaire after Yahoo! acquired his company for $850 million: “I have to say I giggled. There is no way we quadrupled the value of the company in six months.” GEO

Knife Fight

New tax has beverly Hills' cosmetic surgeons up in arms

For decades, Beverly Hills' 2,400 doctors have taken advantage of a much lower tax rate than other commercial enterprises. That economic incentive along with access to a rich, image-obsessed clientele has given rise to a cosmetic surgery cluster, the Wall Street Journal reports. Now the city wants to significantly raise its tax rates for doctors, but the surgeons are fighting back using both sticks and carrots. While threatening lawsuits and mass exoduses, they're arguing they are an economic net good because they attract wealthy individuals from around the world to Beverly Hills for surgery. The city is sclaing back its plans, and hopes to reach a compromise by the end of the year. GEO