There are factors such as geography and history that we just don't have the advantage of.
We aren't that far out, if you look at
this article.
This is a study that looked at cities and tried to put a face on how "international" they are in their reach with regards to business. The findings (based on the number of "global" business services companies in accounting, banking, law and advertising) are as follows:
A. ALPHA WORLD CITIES
12: London, Paris, New York, Tokyo
10: Chicago, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Milan, Singapore
B. BETA WORLD CITIES
9: San Francisco, Sydney, Toronto, Zurich
8: Brussels, Madrid, Mexico City, Sao Paulo
7: Moscow, Seoul
C. GAMMA WORLD CITIES
6: Amsterdam, Boston, Caracas, Dallas, Dusseldorf, Geneva, Houston, Jakarta, Johannesburg, Melbourne, Osaka, Prague, Santiago, Taipei, Washington
5: Bangkok, Beijing, Montreal, Rome, Stockholm, Warsaw
4: Atlanta, Barcelona, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Budapest, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Istanbul, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Miami, Minneapolis, Munich, Shanghai
Toronto is only a point away from being an ALPHA WORLD CITY, which I think will be coming with the banking consolidation - we should move from having just MAJOR to PRIME representation in the banking world. Add a million more people in Toronto, and a couple million in the burbs...
I love the future. It's so bright... 8)