受到新冠疫情的影響,紐約市經(jīng)濟的萎縮程度遠超過任何其他美國大都市?!按筇O果城”的經(jīng)濟之所以受到最大沖擊,主要原因是紐約是疫情的震中,而且是全球最受歡迎的旅游目的地。當?shù)睾艽笠徊糠謩趧诱呤芄陀诓蛷d、酒吧、酒店、電影院和零售店等企業(yè),而旅游業(yè)的崩潰讓紐約市的經(jīng)濟遭遇重創(chuàng),這些企業(yè)首當其沖。
但紐約經(jīng)濟慘遭重創(chuàng),不只是因為早期新冠疫情的大規(guī)模爆發(fā)和脆弱的產(chǎn)業(yè)結(jié)構(gòu)。另外一個原因是紐約州和紐約市政府執(zhí)行了美國最嚴格和持續(xù)時間最長的封城措施,因此其經(jīng)濟萎縮幅度也是最嚴重的。
雖然在4月中旬,紐約的新冠肺炎新增病例已經(jīng)大幅減少,而且在幾周之前就已經(jīng)幾乎達到了經(jīng)濟重啟的所有高門檻,但紐約州和紐約市制定的經(jīng)濟重啟時間表卻是美國啟動時間最晚、耗時最長的。這些極其謹慎的措施或許是拯救生命和避免感染人數(shù)再次大幅增加的正確選擇。
但我們禁不住要問:封城措施對于之前繁榮的紐約經(jīng)濟造成了多大的影響?紐約市為了較小幅度地改善健康指標,在商業(yè)上做出的犧牲是否“劃算”?
紐約州和紐約市雖然已經(jīng)接近達到所有復工標準,但依舊施行嚴格的停工措施,因此為了小幅度改善公共健康,當?shù)匾呀?jīng)付出了巨大的經(jīng)濟成本。雖然紐約市已經(jīng)實現(xiàn)了所有目標,并且多數(shù)指標將超額完成,但當?shù)卣詫⒗^續(xù)執(zhí)行這些代價高昂的限制措施,至少將持續(xù)五周甚至更長時間。
過去幾周,紐約市的住院治療人數(shù)和死亡病例指標呈逐步下降的趨勢,但這座城市因此避免了多少悲劇發(fā)生,或者新增住院患者和死亡病例減少,能在多大程度上保證840萬居民的健康,這些問題的答案我們都不得而知。人的生命當然是無價的。但失業(yè)、經(jīng)濟困境和焦慮也是有代價的。因此通過研究數(shù)據(jù)了解封城造成的影響對紐約經(jīng)濟和就業(yè)的破壞,是有價值的。
未來我們會發(fā)現(xiàn),無論是延長初期的全面封鎖還是制定漫長的復工時間表,這些措施所產(chǎn)生的額外經(jīng)濟損失無法用數(shù)字來衡量。按照當?shù)氐膹凸び媱?,餐廳在7月以前甚至更長時間內(nèi)將不得提供店內(nèi)用餐,盡管紐約州將從6月22日開始允許戶外用餐。很顯然,與縮短封鎖時間可能付出的代價相比,這筆損失相對而言顯得無足輕重。但不能因此就認為這些成本微不足道,因為疫情造成的整體經(jīng)濟損失是巨大的。我們稍后會詳細計算這些數(shù)據(jù)。首先,我們來看一下疫情對紐約市經(jīng)濟的影響。《財富》雜志估計,2020年,停工給紐約市造成的經(jīng)濟損失高達630億美元,相當于每天損失1.73億美元。紐約市的人均經(jīng)濟損失是哈德遜河西部其他美國城市的兩倍。
我是紐約人,住在格林威治村北部的切爾西社區(qū)。之前因為新冠疫情,紐約的街道空空蕩蕩,但在喬治·弗洛伊德遇害之后,成千上萬人走上街頭抗議警察暴力執(zhí)法,這讓我心生敬佩。到目前為止,紐約人一直在相對認真地執(zhí)行戴口罩和社交隔離等措施。最近的抗議活動,至少從疾病預(yù)防的角度,會對紐約市的疫情或封城措施產(chǎn)生怎樣的影響,我們并不知道。
但我和一些經(jīng)濟學家們考慮的問題是,在其他城市紛紛解封之后,紐約州和紐約市繼續(xù)執(zhí)行嚴格的限制措施,能夠創(chuàng)造什么樣的“邊際”效益,要付出什么代價。紐約市付出的代價肯定不只是每天1.73億美元,因為無限制的復工無法讓紐約市恢復到去年的活力。代價肯定是巨大的。
紐約在幾周前已經(jīng)達到了大部分復工標準
紐約州州長安德魯·庫莫在3月20日宣布全境“封城”,并確定了經(jīng)濟重啟的四個階段,適用于包括紐約市在內(nèi)的10個地區(qū)。傳染風險較低的行業(yè)可以在早期復工,風險較高的行業(yè)復工時間要向后推遲。每個階段必須至少執(zhí)行14天之后才能進入下一個階段。如果在規(guī)定的兩周期限內(nèi),感染人數(shù)快速增加,紐約州將延長兩個階段之間的間隔,直到疫情緩解為止。
紐約市計劃在6月8日開始第一階段,在這個階段,建筑業(yè)和制造業(yè)可以復工,零售商可以出售鞋子和電子產(chǎn)品等商品(通過路邊自提或店內(nèi)自提)。在第二階段,人們能夠去房地產(chǎn)辦事處、汽車展廳、理發(fā)店和其他專業(yè)服務(wù)機構(gòu),辦公樓也可以復工。
但直到第三階段,提供店內(nèi)用餐服務(wù)的餐廳、購物中心和店內(nèi)零售才能復工,而電影院和會展場館直到第四階段才可以重新開啟。因此,紐約市的商店和餐廳最早要在7月8日才能重新開業(yè)。當然這個日期可能會推遲數(shù)周,而且無論紐約市還是紐約州都沒有針對餐廳或購物出臺具體的指導原則,只是紐約市市長白思豪曾表示要嚴格限制餐廳內(nèi)的座位數(shù)量。相比之下,佐治亞州的餐廳早在4月27日就已經(jīng)復工,得克薩斯和佛羅里達也先后在5月1日和5月15日允許餐廳恢復營業(yè)。
紐約州提出了進入第一階段的7項標準,紐約市也設(shè)定了復工的三個標準。值得注意的是,紐約市早在幾周前就已經(jīng)達到或者接近達到了所有這些標準。在紐約州的7項標準中,截至5月初,紐約市有5項達標,包括住院治療人數(shù)和醫(yī)院死亡病例連續(xù)14天呈下降趨勢和提供足夠的檢測,而且在本市的三項復工標準中,紐約市在5月5日左右已經(jīng)達標兩項,分別是每天新增住院病例少于200例以及每日感染率低于15%。
紐約州的另外兩項標準是可用普通病床和ICU病床不低于總數(shù)的30%。在5月下旬,紐約市已經(jīng)接近達到這兩個標準。例如,5月4日,紐約市可用普通病床和ICU病床的比例分別為26%和21%,在5月18日左右分別達到了28%和29%。紐約市仍未達標的一項本市標準是“公立醫(yī)院的重癥病例少于375例。”但在5月中旬,該數(shù)據(jù)已經(jīng)接近400例左右。
這10項標準中的其中一項,即每10萬居民中新增住院病例不超過兩例,這意味著每天新增住院病例約84例。在這方面,紐約市直到最近仍有不小的差距。5月4日,紐約市新增住院病例是該標準的兩倍以上,但下降速度較快,截至5月18日,紐約市每10萬人新增住院病例已經(jīng)減少到1.8例。
簡而言之,截至5月初,紐約市已經(jīng)有6項達標,到5月中旬達標7項,并且當時與另外兩項標準只相差了幾個百分點,而最后一個關(guān)于重癥病例數(shù)量的標準,紐約市相差的數(shù)量只有50例左右。還有一點也值得注意,那就是紐約市的新增病例已經(jīng)不再是統(tǒng)計數(shù)據(jù)中的異常值。據(jù)紐約市的統(tǒng)計數(shù)據(jù)顯示,該市每天平均新增病例不超過600例,或每10萬人中不超過6例,并且4%至5%的檢測結(jié)果為陽性。相比之下,除紐約以外,美國其他地區(qū)每檢測10萬人的新增陽性病例約為6.8例,檢出率也是5%左右。
疫情破壞了就業(yè),導致經(jīng)濟萎縮
這兩個領(lǐng)域都有一個可怕的共同點:紐約市就業(yè)和經(jīng)濟的受創(chuàng)程度比美國其他地區(qū)更加嚴重。2019年,紐約新增10萬個就業(yè)崗位,就業(yè)人口增長1.8%,失業(yè)率始終穩(wěn)定在4%,就業(yè)市場較為健康。紐約市的大雇主是零售業(yè)和休閑餐旅業(yè)。餐廳、酒吧和酒店提供80萬個就業(yè)崗位,與專業(yè)服務(wù)、商務(wù)服務(wù)和醫(yī)療保健行業(yè)相當,是金融行業(yè)的兩倍。
但在疫情期間,這些餐飲和旅游企業(yè)卻首當其沖受到打擊。紐約市負責經(jīng)濟預(yù)測和編制預(yù)算的獨立預(yù)算辦公室(Independent Budget Office)預(yù)測,從2019年第四季度到2020年年末,紐約市的就業(yè)崗位將減少47.4萬個,比例達到10.1%。其中零售業(yè)將減少15萬個工作崗位,休閑餐旅業(yè)將減少12萬個。獨立預(yù)算辦公室預(yù)測,紐約市的失業(yè)率將在2021年第二季度達到約11.9%的最高峰,而其預(yù)測的美國平均失業(yè)率不足10%。
關(guān)于疫情對紐約市經(jīng)濟的影響,雖然很難找到一個準確的數(shù)字代表經(jīng)濟產(chǎn)值的收縮幅度,但這個數(shù)字非常重要。無論紐約州或者紐約市都沒有提供對紐約市GDP的預(yù)估,也沒有提供紐約市商品和服務(wù)的經(jīng)濟產(chǎn)出與全國國民收入的比較。美國商務(wù)部提供了每個縣的GDP數(shù)據(jù)。我可以根據(jù)這些數(shù)據(jù)進行近似計算。根據(jù)商務(wù)部經(jīng)濟分析局的統(tǒng)計,紐約市的GDP約為9,000億美元;我向具有相關(guān)背景的專家確認了這個數(shù)據(jù)。
紐約市GDP受影響的程度,比美國其他地區(qū)更加嚴重。主要有兩方面的原因。首先,相對于其人口和企業(yè)數(shù)量,紐約商品和服務(wù)的經(jīng)濟產(chǎn)值遠高于全國平均水平。紐約市的人均GDP超過10.5萬美元,而美國平均水平為6.7萬美元。獨立預(yù)算辦公室副主任喬治·史威汀說:“紐約市金融業(yè)、專業(yè)服務(wù)和商務(wù)服務(wù)以及醫(yī)療保健等高產(chǎn)出行業(yè)的比例高于中西部城市,對制造業(yè)的依賴性較小?!?/p>
其次,經(jīng)濟產(chǎn)值的下降幅度高于全國平均水平。雖然銀行業(yè)和科技行業(yè)等紐約市的基礎(chǔ)產(chǎn)業(yè)(事實證明,這些行業(yè)的工作者在家辦公有極高的效率)并沒有出現(xiàn)業(yè)務(wù)大幅下滑或大規(guī)模裁員,但零售業(yè)和包括餐廳與酒吧在內(nèi)的休閑餐旅業(yè)卻對全市經(jīng)濟產(chǎn)生了嚴重影響。據(jù)獨立預(yù)算辦公室統(tǒng)計,這兩個行業(yè)占全市工資總量的17%,與專業(yè)服務(wù)和商務(wù)服務(wù)業(yè)相當,而金融業(yè)僅占10%。
紐約市餐飲娛樂業(yè)遭遇了滅頂之災(zāi),整體損失超過美國的平均水平。波士頓咨詢公司(Boston Consulting Group)為紐約州編寫的報告《紐約新冠疫情初步經(jīng)濟影響評估》預(yù)測,2020年,紐約市GDP將收縮7%。這一數(shù)字比聯(lián)邦政府預(yù)估的5.4%高30%。
按照我的估算,GDP收縮7%,意味著紐約市今年的GDP將減少630億美元。這相當于人均7,500美元,但GDP減少并非都是由于工資縮水;很大一部分原因來自利潤和投資損失。疫情將導致美國人均GDP減少3,900美元,只有紐約市的一半左右。
紐約市的一切都是特大號的,很可惜,新冠疫情導致的損失也是如此。紐約州和紐約市付出更高的經(jīng)濟代價,到底有沒有換來公共健康的改善或者更安全的環(huán)境?這個問題將成為未來幾年許多人研究的主題。目前,這個問題還沒有答案。但卻值得我們思考。(財富中文網(wǎng))
翻譯:劉進龍
審校:汪皓
受到新冠疫情的影響,紐約市經(jīng)濟的萎縮程度遠超過任何其他美國大都市?!按筇O果城”的經(jīng)濟之所以受到最大沖擊,主要原因是紐約是疫情的震中,而且是全球最受歡迎的旅游目的地。當?shù)睾艽笠徊糠謩趧诱呤芄陀诓蛷d、酒吧、酒店、電影院和零售店等企業(yè),而旅游業(yè)的崩潰讓紐約市的經(jīng)濟遭遇重創(chuàng),這些企業(yè)首當其沖。
但紐約經(jīng)濟慘遭重創(chuàng),不只是因為早期新冠疫情的大規(guī)模爆發(fā)和脆弱的產(chǎn)業(yè)結(jié)構(gòu)。另外一個原因是紐約州和紐約市政府執(zhí)行了美國最嚴格和持續(xù)時間最長的封城措施,因此其經(jīng)濟萎縮幅度也是最嚴重的。
雖然在4月中旬,紐約的新冠肺炎新增病例已經(jīng)大幅減少,而且在幾周之前就已經(jīng)幾乎達到了經(jīng)濟重啟的所有高門檻,但紐約州和紐約市制定的經(jīng)濟重啟時間表卻是美國啟動時間最晚、耗時最長的。這些極其謹慎的措施或許是拯救生命和避免感染人數(shù)再次大幅增加的正確選擇。
但我們禁不住要問:封城措施對于之前繁榮的紐約經(jīng)濟造成了多大的影響?紐約市為了較小幅度地改善健康指標,在商業(yè)上做出的犧牲是否“劃算”?
紐約州和紐約市雖然已經(jīng)接近達到所有復工標準,但依舊施行嚴格的停工措施,因此為了小幅度改善公共健康,當?shù)匾呀?jīng)付出了巨大的經(jīng)濟成本。雖然紐約市已經(jīng)實現(xiàn)了所有目標,并且多數(shù)指標將超額完成,但當?shù)卣詫⒗^續(xù)執(zhí)行這些代價高昂的限制措施,至少將持續(xù)五周甚至更長時間。
過去幾周,紐約市的住院治療人數(shù)和死亡病例指標呈逐步下降的趨勢,但這座城市因此避免了多少悲劇發(fā)生,或者新增住院患者和死亡病例減少,能在多大程度上保證840萬居民的健康,這些問題的答案我們都不得而知。人的生命當然是無價的。但失業(yè)、經(jīng)濟困境和焦慮也是有代價的。因此通過研究數(shù)據(jù)了解封城造成的影響對紐約經(jīng)濟和就業(yè)的破壞,是有價值的。
未來我們會發(fā)現(xiàn),無論是延長初期的全面封鎖還是制定漫長的復工時間表,這些措施所產(chǎn)生的額外經(jīng)濟損失無法用數(shù)字來衡量。按照當?shù)氐膹凸び媱?,餐廳在7月以前甚至更長時間內(nèi)將不得提供店內(nèi)用餐,盡管紐約州將從6月22日開始允許戶外用餐。很顯然,與縮短封鎖時間可能付出的代價相比,這筆損失相對而言顯得無足輕重。但不能因此就認為這些成本微不足道,因為疫情造成的整體經(jīng)濟損失是巨大的。我們稍后會詳細計算這些數(shù)據(jù)。首先,我們來看一下疫情對紐約市經(jīng)濟的影響?!敦敻弧冯s志估計,2020年,停工給紐約市造成的經(jīng)濟損失高達630億美元,相當于每天損失1.73億美元。紐約市的人均經(jīng)濟損失是哈德遜河西部其他美國城市的兩倍。
我是紐約人,住在格林威治村北部的切爾西社區(qū)。之前因為新冠疫情,紐約的街道空空蕩蕩,但在喬治·弗洛伊德遇害之后,成千上萬人走上街頭抗議警察暴力執(zhí)法,這讓我心生敬佩。到目前為止,紐約人一直在相對認真地執(zhí)行戴口罩和社交隔離等措施。最近的抗議活動,至少從疾病預(yù)防的角度,會對紐約市的疫情或封城措施產(chǎn)生怎樣的影響,我們并不知道。
但我和一些經(jīng)濟學家們考慮的問題是,在其他城市紛紛解封之后,紐約州和紐約市繼續(xù)執(zhí)行嚴格的限制措施,能夠創(chuàng)造什么樣的“邊際”效益,要付出什么代價。紐約市付出的代價肯定不只是每天1.73億美元,因為無限制的復工無法讓紐約市恢復到去年的活力。代價肯定是巨大的。
紐約在幾周前已經(jīng)達到了大部分復工標準
紐約州州長安德魯·庫莫在3月20日宣布全境“封城”,并確定了經(jīng)濟重啟的四個階段,適用于包括紐約市在內(nèi)的10個地區(qū)。傳染風險較低的行業(yè)可以在早期復工,風險較高的行業(yè)復工時間要向后推遲。每個階段必須至少執(zhí)行14天之后才能進入下一個階段。如果在規(guī)定的兩周期限內(nèi),感染人數(shù)快速增加,紐約州將延長兩個階段之間的間隔,直到疫情緩解為止。
紐約市計劃在6月8日開始第一階段,在這個階段,建筑業(yè)和制造業(yè)可以復工,零售商可以出售鞋子和電子產(chǎn)品等商品(通過路邊自提或店內(nèi)自提)。在第二階段,人們能夠去房地產(chǎn)辦事處、汽車展廳、理發(fā)店和其他專業(yè)服務(wù)機構(gòu),辦公樓也可以復工。
但直到第三階段,提供店內(nèi)用餐服務(wù)的餐廳、購物中心和店內(nèi)零售才能復工,而電影院和會展場館直到第四階段才可以重新開啟。因此,紐約市的商店和餐廳最早要在7月8日才能重新開業(yè)。當然這個日期可能會推遲數(shù)周,而且無論紐約市還是紐約州都沒有針對餐廳或購物出臺具體的指導原則,只是紐約市市長白思豪曾表示要嚴格限制餐廳內(nèi)的座位數(shù)量。相比之下,佐治亞州的餐廳早在4月27日就已經(jīng)復工,得克薩斯和佛羅里達也先后在5月1日和5月15日允許餐廳恢復營業(yè)。
紐約州提出了進入第一階段的7項標準,紐約市也設(shè)定了復工的三個標準。值得注意的是,紐約市早在幾周前就已經(jīng)達到或者接近達到了所有這些標準。在紐約州的7項標準中,截至5月初,紐約市有5項達標,包括住院治療人數(shù)和醫(yī)院死亡病例連續(xù)14天呈下降趨勢和提供足夠的檢測,而且在本市的三項復工標準中,紐約市在5月5日左右已經(jīng)達標兩項,分別是每天新增住院病例少于200例以及每日感染率低于15%。
紐約州的另外兩項標準是可用普通病床和ICU病床不低于總數(shù)的30%。在5月下旬,紐約市已經(jīng)接近達到這兩個標準。例如,5月4日,紐約市可用普通病床和ICU病床的比例分別為26%和21%,在5月18日左右分別達到了28%和29%。紐約市仍未達標的一項本市標準是“公立醫(yī)院的重癥病例少于375例?!钡?月中旬,該數(shù)據(jù)已經(jīng)接近400例左右。
這10項標準中的其中一項,即每10萬居民中新增住院病例不超過兩例,這意味著每天新增住院病例約84例。在這方面,紐約市直到最近仍有不小的差距。5月4日,紐約市新增住院病例是該標準的兩倍以上,但下降速度較快,截至5月18日,紐約市每10萬人新增住院病例已經(jīng)減少到1.8例。
簡而言之,截至5月初,紐約市已經(jīng)有6項達標,到5月中旬達標7項,并且當時與另外兩項標準只相差了幾個百分點,而最后一個關(guān)于重癥病例數(shù)量的標準,紐約市相差的數(shù)量只有50例左右。還有一點也值得注意,那就是紐約市的新增病例已經(jīng)不再是統(tǒng)計數(shù)據(jù)中的異常值。據(jù)紐約市的統(tǒng)計數(shù)據(jù)顯示,該市每天平均新增病例不超過600例,或每10萬人中不超過6例,并且4%至5%的檢測結(jié)果為陽性。相比之下,除紐約以外,美國其他地區(qū)每檢測10萬人的新增陽性病例約為6.8例,檢出率也是5%左右。
疫情破壞了就業(yè),導致經(jīng)濟萎縮
這兩個領(lǐng)域都有一個可怕的共同點:紐約市就業(yè)和經(jīng)濟的受創(chuàng)程度比美國其他地區(qū)更加嚴重。2019年,紐約新增10萬個就業(yè)崗位,就業(yè)人口增長1.8%,失業(yè)率始終穩(wěn)定在4%,就業(yè)市場較為健康。紐約市的大雇主是零售業(yè)和休閑餐旅業(yè)。餐廳、酒吧和酒店提供80萬個就業(yè)崗位,與專業(yè)服務(wù)、商務(wù)服務(wù)和醫(yī)療保健行業(yè)相當,是金融行業(yè)的兩倍。
但在疫情期間,這些餐飲和旅游企業(yè)卻首當其沖受到打擊。紐約市負責經(jīng)濟預(yù)測和編制預(yù)算的獨立預(yù)算辦公室(Independent Budget Office)預(yù)測,從2019年第四季度到2020年年末,紐約市的就業(yè)崗位將減少47.4萬個,比例達到10.1%。其中零售業(yè)將減少15萬個工作崗位,休閑餐旅業(yè)將減少12萬個。獨立預(yù)算辦公室預(yù)測,紐約市的失業(yè)率將在2021年第二季度達到約11.9%的最高峰,而其預(yù)測的美國平均失業(yè)率不足10%。
關(guān)于疫情對紐約市經(jīng)濟的影響,雖然很難找到一個準確的數(shù)字代表經(jīng)濟產(chǎn)值的收縮幅度,但這個數(shù)字非常重要。無論紐約州或者紐約市都沒有提供對紐約市GDP的預(yù)估,也沒有提供紐約市商品和服務(wù)的經(jīng)濟產(chǎn)出與全國國民收入的比較。美國商務(wù)部提供了每個縣的GDP數(shù)據(jù)。我可以根據(jù)這些數(shù)據(jù)進行近似計算。根據(jù)商務(wù)部經(jīng)濟分析局的統(tǒng)計,紐約市的GDP約為9,000億美元;我向具有相關(guān)背景的專家確認了這個數(shù)據(jù)。
紐約市GDP受影響的程度,比美國其他地區(qū)更加嚴重。主要有兩方面的原因。首先,相對于其人口和企業(yè)數(shù)量,紐約商品和服務(wù)的經(jīng)濟產(chǎn)值遠高于全國平均水平。紐約市的人均GDP超過10.5萬美元,而美國平均水平為6.7萬美元。獨立預(yù)算辦公室副主任喬治·史威汀說:“紐約市金融業(yè)、專業(yè)服務(wù)和商務(wù)服務(wù)以及醫(yī)療保健等高產(chǎn)出行業(yè)的比例高于中西部城市,對制造業(yè)的依賴性較小。”
其次,經(jīng)濟產(chǎn)值的下降幅度高于全國平均水平。雖然銀行業(yè)和科技行業(yè)等紐約市的基礎(chǔ)產(chǎn)業(yè)(事實證明,這些行業(yè)的工作者在家辦公有極高的效率)并沒有出現(xiàn)業(yè)務(wù)大幅下滑或大規(guī)模裁員,但零售業(yè)和包括餐廳與酒吧在內(nèi)的休閑餐旅業(yè)卻對全市經(jīng)濟產(chǎn)生了嚴重影響。據(jù)獨立預(yù)算辦公室統(tǒng)計,這兩個行業(yè)占全市工資總量的17%,與專業(yè)服務(wù)和商務(wù)服務(wù)業(yè)相當,而金融業(yè)僅占10%。
紐約市餐飲娛樂業(yè)遭遇了滅頂之災(zāi),整體損失超過美國的平均水平。波士頓咨詢公司(Boston Consulting Group)為紐約州編寫的報告《紐約新冠疫情初步經(jīng)濟影響評估》預(yù)測,2020年,紐約市GDP將收縮7%。這一數(shù)字比聯(lián)邦政府預(yù)估的5.4%高30%。
按照我的估算,GDP收縮7%,意味著紐約市今年的GDP將減少630億美元。這相當于人均7,500美元,但GDP減少并非都是由于工資縮水;很大一部分原因來自利潤和投資損失。疫情將導致美國人均GDP減少3,900美元,只有紐約市的一半左右。
紐約市的一切都是特大號的,很可惜,新冠疫情導致的損失也是如此。紐約州和紐約市付出更高的經(jīng)濟代價,到底有沒有換來公共健康的改善或者更安全的環(huán)境?這個問題將成為未來幾年許多人研究的主題。目前,這個問題還沒有答案。但卻值得我們思考。(財富中文網(wǎng))
翻譯:劉進龍
審校:汪皓
The coronavirus crisis is shrinking New York City’s economy on a scale far more vast than the squeeze on any other U.S. metropolis. The Big Apple so exceeds the rest of urban America in damage suffered mostly because it’s the epicenter of the outbreak and also because an extremely high proportion of its workforce is employed in restaurants, bars, hotels, theaters, and retail, all businesses hyper-vulnerable to the collapse in tourism that has pounded the world’s most visited destination.
Still, New York isn’t just getting hit hardest because of the virus’s big early onslaught and the mix of fragile industries. The New York State and City governments are helping sharpen the sharpest-of-all contractions by imposing the toughest, tightest, longest-standing shutdown in America.
The state and city are sticking to the latest-starting, most extended reopening schedule in the nation even though New York began making astounding gains in the reduction of COVID-19 cases in mid-April, and came extremely close to satisfying nearly all the high hurdles for a reboot weeks ago. That ultracautious approach may well be the right choice for saving lives and preventing another spike in infections.
It’s worth asking: How much of a bite is the lockdown taking from the previously thriving New York economy? And how much “bang for the buck” is the city getting measured in the commerce it’s sacrificing for what look like relatively small improvements in health metrics?
The city and state maintained a strict shutdown as the city closed in on all the metrics for reopening, so the economy has already shouldered significant extra costs to reach small improvements. The authorities are also keeping the most expensive restrictions in place for at least another five weeks, and probably a lot longer, although the city has hit all the targets, and is on course to ace most of them.
We don’t know how much tragedy the city avoided in fewer hospitalizations and deaths in the past few weeks as the metrics showed only incremental gains, or how much the slow easing will safeguard the health of its 8.4 million residents. There is certainly no way to put a price on saving a human life. But unemployment, and economic pain and anxiety have a cost too, and it's worth running the numbers showing how the deadweight from the lockdown is crushing the size of New York’s economy and punishing employment.
As we’ll see, it’s impossible to put a number on the extra load caused by stretching out the initial full lockdown, and requiring a long schedule for reopening that could ban restaurants from seating customers indoors until July or even later, although the State will allow outdoor dining as early as June 22. Clearly, that amount is a relatively small addition to what a shorter lockdown would have exacted. But it’s still not insignificant, because the overall burden is so gigantic. We’ll get to detailed numbers in a moment. But here’s a look at the size of that burden. Fortune estimates the stoppage’s total hit to the New York economy for 2020 is $63 billion, or $173 million a day. New York’s bill per resident is twice as high as that facing the rest of America west of the Hudson River.
On a personal note, I’m a New Yorker, a resident of the Chelsea neighborhood north of Greenwich Village. I've been awed as the streets previously emptied by coronavirus have in recent days been replaced by thousands of protestors marching against police brutality in the wake of the George Floyd's death. New Yorkers have taken masking and social distancing relatively seriously to this point, and it's unclear what effect the recent protests will have on New York's caseload or lockdown measures, at least from a disease prevention standpoint.
What I and some economists are pondering however, is the “marginal” benefit the state and city are achieving by leaving heavy restrictions in place so much longer than other cities, and at what cost. That cost obviously isn’t anything like the full $173 million a day, since an unfettered reopening wouldn’t come close to restoring New York to last year’s dynamism. But it’s still big.
New York reached most of its reopening metrics weeks ago
Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered a full shutdown on March 20, then established four separate phases for reopening that apply to all of the state’s 10 regions, including for New York City. Businesses with a low risk of infection are permitted to resume operations in the earlier phases, followed by more vulnerable sectors. Each phase must be in place for at least 14 days before the region can move to the next phase. If infections spike during the designated two-week period, the state can extend the interval before the next phase begins until the outbreak recedes.
New York City is scheduled to begin phase one on June 8, when construction projects and manufacturing businesses may reopen, and retailers are free to provide goods such as shoes and electronics for either curbside or in-store pickup. In phase two, people can visit real estate offices, car showrooms, hair salons, and a number of other professional services sites, and return to work in office buildings.
It isn’t until phase three that restaurants for dining in, malls, and in-store retail will reopen, and all theaters and conference venues must remain shuttered until phase four. Hence, the earliest the city’s stores and restaurants can reopen is July 8. Of course that date could be pushed back for weeks, and neither the city nor the state has established guidelines for restaurants or shopping, although Mayor Bill de Blasio has talked about imposing strict limits on the number of seats that can be occupied in eateries. By contrast, Georgia opened restaurants on April 27, followed by Texas on May 1, and Florida followed on May 15.
New York State established seven requirements for reaching phase one, and the city set three of its own. It’s worth noting that the city has either satisfied, or come extremely close to satisfying, all of these benchmarks for weeks. By early May, the city had met five of the state’s seven criteria, including both a 14-day decline in hospitalizations and hospital deaths, and provision of sufficient testing, and two of the city’s three standards, fewer than 200 hospital admissions per day, and a less than 15% daily rate of infection, a bogey it reached around May 5.
On two state standards, having sufficient capacity to make at least 30% of hospital beds and ICU beds available, New York City was just a shade short for weeks before reaching the benchmark in late May. For example, on May 4, it hit 26% in hospital beds and 21% in ICU beds, and by around May 18, it was regularly registering 28% or 29% in both categories. The one city regulation where it lagged was “fewer than 375 critical care cases in public hospitals.” Yet by mid-May, the number was already in the low 400s.
The one out of the 10 metrics where the city was far off the mark until recently: new hospitalizations of less than two per 100,000 residents, meaning around 84 new admissions per day. On May 4, that number was more than twice the limit, but it was falling fast, and by May 18, hospitalizations per 100,000 had fallen to 1.8.
Put simply, the city had satisfied six of the 10 criteria by early May, met a seventh by mid-month, and by that point was within a few percentage points on two others and maybe 50 critical care patients over the limit on the final requirement. It’s also important to note that New York City is no longer an outlier in new cases. According to city statistics, it’s now averaging fewer than 600 new cases per day, or six per 100,000, and between 4% and 5% of tests are proving positive. By contrast, the nation outside of New York is registering about 6.8 positive new readings per 100,000 tests, and the positivity rate is also about 5%.
The pandemic is ravaging employment and shrinking the economy
The two areas share a daunting theme: Both employment and the economy are faring far worse than in the rest of the U.S. In 2019, New York added 100,000 jobs, raising the rolls by a healthy 1.8%, and its unemployment rate stood at 4%. Retail and leisure, and hospitality, are particularly big employers. Combined, the Big Apple’s restaurants, bars, and hotels provide jobs for 800,000, equal to the rosters for professional and business services and health care, and twice the workforce in finance.
Those eating, drinking, and tourism venues are the pandemic’s bull’s-eye. The Independent Budget Office (IBO), a city agency that produces excellent forecasts on its economy and budget, predicts a staggering reduction of 474,000 jobs from the fourth quarter of 2019 to the close of 2020, shrinking the job base by 10.1%. About 150,000 of those losses are coming in retail, and another 120,000 in leisure and hospitality. All told, the IBO expects New York’s unemployment rate to peak at around 11.9% in the second quarter of 2021, far above its prediction for the U.S. of under 10%.
Moving to the impact on the city’s economy, the dollar decline in output isn’t an easy number to find, but it’s important. Neither the city nor the state provides an estimate for the city’s GDP, or the output of goods and services comparable to a country’s national income. I was able to approximate the figure from data provided by the U.S. Department of Commerce, which gives GDP for every county in America. According to Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis, New York City’s GDP is approximately $900 billion; I was able to confirm that figure with experts on background.
Once again, the damage to New York’s GDP is much bigger than for the rest of America. The reason is twofold. First, New York produces far more dollars in goods and services relative to its population and number of businesses than the nation as a whole. New York’s GDP per capita is over $105,000, compared with $67,000 for the U.S. overall. “New York has a greater concentration in high-output industries such as finance, professional and business services, and health care than, say, a Midwestern city with strong dependence on manufacturing,” says George Sweeting, the IBO’s deputy director.
Second, the fall in output is much steeper than the nation’s average. Even though bedrock New York industries such as banking and technology haven’t seen a big drop in business or sweeping layoffs––their workforces are proving extremely productive from home––the fortunes of retail, and leisure and hospitality encompassing restaurants and bars weigh heavily. According to IBO, those two sectors account for 17% of all of New York’s wages, exceeding finance at 10% and equal to professional and business services.
The hit to hosting and entertaining is so devastating that the overall damage exceeds America’s norm. A report prepared for New York State by Boston Consulting Group, N.Y. COVID-19 Preliminary Economic Impact Assessment, forecasts (without citing a dollar number) that the city’s GDP will drop by 7% in 2020. That’s 30% more than the federal government’s estimate of a negative 5.4%.
By my estimates, a 7% decline would shave that $63 billion from New York’s GDP this year. That amounts to $7,500 for every resident in the city, although not nearly all of that drop is accounted for by wages; a large portion is also lost profits and investment. The pandemic is shrinking GDP across America by only half that amount, around $3,900.
Everything about New York is outsize, and, unfortunately, so are its losses from COVID-19. Whether the city and state drove those costs higher without getting much extra improvement or safety in return will be the subject of many studies in years to come. It’s a question that right now has no answer. But it’s worth asking.