Boris Johnson, London’s mayor.
CityMetric, some website I just heard of, is gleefully reporting 10 “objective” reasons why “New York may be losing its crown as the unofficial capital of the world to London.” These reasons were offered by Ed Glaeser, an economist type at Harvard (hey, he has his own Wikipedia article!), and Boris Johnson, who is of course completely objective in his position as London’s mayor.
A friend of mine offered his own interpretation of what Messrs. Glaeser and Johnson’s “objective” facts really mean.
- Population: Not as bad as during the Blitz!
- Financial sector: Terrorists need money laundered!
- Education: Less illiteracy and crime than The Bronx or England’s worst schools!
- Geography: Ease of time-zone calculation!
- Government: Dependency, cronyism, and Guy Fawkes!
- “Fun”: Why does this have quotation marks?
- Job growth: Barely faster than population growth, just like NYC!
- Bookshops: More of them!
- Murder: Not as much!
- Museums: Not as boring as bookshops!
There’s objectivity for you.
Dustin Tyler Joyce 