NYT: Divining New York’s Fate Should a Double-Dip Recession Hit

[marmar]

Divining New York’s Fate Should a Double-Dip Recession Hit

By PATRICK McGEEHAN
Published: August 14, 2011


New York City may have recovered from the Great Recession sooner and more strongly than the rest of the nation did, but it is no less likely to slip back into reverse, economists said.

If the plodding national economy stumbles into another recession, New York — plagued by high unemployment and the prospect of a rising tide of layoffs on Wall Street — probably will take a tumble, too.

“The likelihood of a double-dip recession has increased, and that’s led to a great deal of concern,” said Ronnie Lowenstein, director of the city’s Independent Budget Office. “If there were to be a double-dip recession at the U.S. level, certainly the city would be in trouble.”

The last recession, triggered by the financial crisis that wiped out some of the biggest American investment banks, surprised many economists and local officials by being shorter and shallower in New York City than elsewhere. The city has regained jobs lost since the financial crisis of 2008 at twice the rate of the country as a whole. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/15/nyregion/nyc-bank-layoffs-prompt-worries-of-double-dip-recession.html?_r=1&hp