Economy
The Global Cities That Power the World Economy Now
The latest numbers from the Brookings Institution are a reminder that inequality has a geographic dimension.
It’s often said that cities and metros power both national economies and the world economy. But which ones play the most dynamic roles, and which the least?
The Brookings Institution’s Global MetroMonitor is a great place to start. Developed by researchers at Brookings’ Metropolitan Policy Program with data from Oxford Economics, Moody’s Analytics and the U.S. Census Bureau, the fourth annual edition, released today, provides detailed data on economic activity for 300 metros worldwide. These 300 metros accounted for nearly half (47 percent) of all global economic output in 2014 and nearly 40 percent of global economic growth, while housing just 20 percent of the global population.