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Boston is ranked as the #1 life sciences cluster in the country, the #2 Biotech cluster (http://www.allbusiness.com/economy-economic-indicators/economic-conditions-growth/5614766-1.html - broken link) in the country, #3 high tech city in the country, and the #1 nanotechnology cluster in the country.
Boston is the medical research capital of the country and arguably the world. Boston/Cambridge receives much more annual NIH funding than any other city in the country, with $1,924,398,042. New York is second with 1,249,925,616 and Baltimore is third with 834,538,583. Atlanta is 20th with 287,241,627 (Cambridge alone blows Atlanta out of the water).
Boston is ranked the #3 financial center (http://www.geneve-finance.ch/fr/place_fin/file.cfm/document/The_Global_Financial_Centres_Index_7.pdf?contentid =2190 - broken link) in the country, #14 in the world. It's #3 in terms of both private equity firms and hedge funds (Boston totals to $68.9 Billion, with SF third at $20 Billion) in the world, trailing only New York City and London. Boston is where the mutual fund was created and it's arguably the center for mutual funds in the planet. Financial services companies like State Street Bank, Putnam Investments, Fidelity Investments, John Hancock, and MFS are headquartered here. These institutions are often in charge of massive pension funds and retirement funds for major companies/governments across the country and planet.
Boston is home to what is far-and-away the most powerful and influential institute of higher education on the planet, Harvard University. It's also home to arguably the world's best tech institution on the planet, MIT.
So in summary, Boston has larger economy than Atlanta, it is the medical research center of our country, has the most impressive life sciences cluster in the country, it is among the elite cities on the planet in terms of high technology, biotechnology, and nanotechnology. It's a major force in finance especially when it comes to asset management, private equity, hedge funds, venture capital, and mutual funds. It's the educational Mecca of the planet, with schools like Harvard and MIT constantly producing government and business leaders who make impacts all over the world.
That's why Hartsfield International Airport is not more important than Boston.
Boston is "niche-y"...
This is why Atlanta is ranked higher (as it should be).
I'm surprised people think Atlanta is more important than Boston. I'm not taking anything away from Atlanta because it's becoming more than just a regional power, perhaps it already has. However, to say it's more important or should be ranked higher than Boston is still a stretch.
In other words, Boston dominates finance. What does Atlanta dominate?
Atlanta doesn't dominate any industry (maybe transportation). It's just good in a lot of different ones, but isn't the "king" of any of them, I guess I should say.
Atlanta doesn't dominate any industry (maybe transportation). It's just good in a lot of different ones, but isn't the "king" of any of them, I guess I should say.
Expand that thought...Tell us what Atlanta is really good at so we can compare it to what Boston is good at.
Expand that thought...Tell us what Atlanta is really good at so we can compare it to what Boston is good at.
Atlanta posters could probably explain it better, but I'd say: tech, telecommunications, media, non-profits, government jobs, and some medical (in addition to the already mentioned transportation).
In other words, Boston dominates finance. What does Atlanta dominate?
In others words Atlanta economy is more diverse than Boston. And LAMO while not ahead of boston in education, finance, and medical Atlanta is top 10 in all the these areas. On the flipside were is Boston in Logistics, Mass Media, Food industry, and etc? This is what he or she was saying. I would say Boston edge out Atlanta now but in 10 or 25 years I can't picture it.
And oh NY dominate finance.
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