The New New York

It was recently reported that the importance of New York City as the center of world finance may be diminishing, to be replaced by other international cities. Tokyo, London, and Hong Kong all seem to be growing in importance and stature, as New York declines. The high profile and very visible struggles of Wall Street seem to have started the slide. But what does this really mean for America?
Right now it's probably more symbolic than anything, unless you live or work in New York City itself. As the Wall Street giants lay off people or go out of business altogether, their legions of multimillion dollar employees will undoubtedly wind up underemployed with far lower incomes. Smaller New York businesses will be forced to lay off service workers, all of which will combine to affect the New York City economy. On a national scale however, the decline of New York as a world financial Center may not be that critical.
What might be more important are the implications of this symbolic shift of power. The United States has long been considered to be the center of the global economy. With American unemployment at a 14 year high, with Wall Street and Detroit seeking billions of dollars in bailout money, and with the new administration trying desperately to jumpstart the economy, things might be changing.
Experts seem to agree that things are going to get much worse before they get any better. For anyone in the world who works for a living, things are tough and getting tougher. Anybody who is concerned about their financial future-which should be everybody-needs to be thinking today about alternatives and solutions to cope with the coming hard economic times.
Despite the fact that New York's decline as the center of power for world finance may be symbolic, the implications are real. People everywhere must face the realities, and provide for their own financial futures, particularly because nobody else is going to step up and do it. If you have a sound and comprehensive financial plan in place that will enable you to survive the coming hard times, the time to start is implementing it is now. Do some online research and identify potential opportunities that will enable you to generate an income should you lose your job, and to preserve your wealth as financial conditions deteriorate.
What happens in New York might not be your problem, but it seems to indicate that things are going to get a lot worse before they get any better. Be proactive and act to preserve your future now.