Schack Faculty Participate in New York-London Dialogue

Rosemary Scanlon

The New York-London Dialogue—established in 1999 by teams of public officials, real estate executives, and economists from the world’s two leading financial centers—studies these two cities’ economies, demography, and culture.

Divisional Dean D. Kenneth Patton and Schack Institute Clinical Associate Professor Rosemary Scanlon, one of the panel’s original participants, met with Dialogue members in the British capital in November to discuss the unfolding global recession. With financial sector jobs hemorrhaging because of the credit crunch and the collapse of equity markets, the Dialogue is comparing the assets and liabilities of London and New York for clues to hasten an economic recovery.

“The Dialogue is a way to put together people in the same field who have something to say to one another and to keep them conversing,” said Scanlon. “We want to keep those discussions active, but informal, along subject lines.” She mentioned bringing members of the London Arts Board to the Metropolitan Museum of Art last spring to confer on possible exchange programs that might strengthen the cultural and economic resources of both cities.

Previously, the Dialogue offered guidance for their cities’ governments following 9/11, when both New York and London faced job losses because some national leaders wanted to ensure business continuity in the event of another attack. The Dialogue argued successfully for keeping senior corporate executives in the same community to promote face-to-face exchanges of information and for preserving a technological “nerve center” of business activity.

“Only London and New York can back each other up in talent and software because so many companies are co-tenanted in both cities,” says Patton. “If necessary, you could fly 100,000 people from one city to another to keep companies up and running after a terrorist incident.”