The United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union, widely known as Brexit, should have no negative effect and the election of Donald Trump as president of the U.S. should be a positive for the New York City economy according to Kenneth McCarthy, principal economist at Cushman & Wakefield.
Speaking at the monthly luncheon of B’nai B’rith Real Estate at The Cornell Club, McCarthy said that statistics from a survey by The Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE), ranked New York as the number city for foreign investment in 2015.
Following bankruptcy and a high crime rate in 1975, New York has come back to be the safest of all cities, attracting 58 million tourists in 2015. The City is a major attraction for millennials and has the fastest growing and strongest job market in the country. Some 650,000 jobs were added over the past seven years in New York City alone.
On the other hand, Brexit could have a negative effect on London which competes closely with New York, McCarthy said. One important key will be “passporting” which is the set of rules that govern financial transactions in the European Union.
It is unclear at this time if passporting will be retained and it probably won’t be known for some time. This uncertainty should help New York in its competition with London McCarthy said.
As for the election, McCarthy believes that Trump’s promise to lower taxes, improve the infrastructure, and deregulate financial services all bode well for New York City.
“It’s all about the economy,” McCarthy said. “With uncertainty facing the world and elections coming up in France, Germany and Italy in 2017, New York will benefit as a safe haven for real estate.”
