
ON A FRIDAY night in Miami, a luxury-property agent emerges from a swanky(豪华而时髦的) lounge and stands outside a skyscraper. He is celebrating the sale of a house—for $50m. He will not name his buyer but says he mostly sells to tech and finance mogul(大亨,巨头)s. As for(至于,关于) the skyscraper, 830 Brickell, its bottom few feet are a little shabby(破旧的,寒酸的), yet it contains some of America’s priciest square metres of office space. It is home to Citadel, a big hedge fund(对冲基金); an investment firm owned by the family office(家族办公室) of Peter Thiel, a tech billionaire; and two top law firms.
迈阿密一个周五的夜晚,一位豪宅经纪人从一家豪华酒廊走出来,站在一栋摩天大楼外。他正在庆祝一栋房子的成交——价格高达5000万美元。他不愿透露买家身份,但表示自己的客户大多是科技和金融大亨。至于那栋摩天大楼——布里克ell 830号,其底部几英尺略显破旧,却拥有美国最昂贵的办公空间之一。这里是大对冲基金Citadel、科技亿万富翁彼得·蒂尔家族办公室旗下的一家投资公司,以及两家顶级律师事务所的所在地。

The estate agent and 830 Brickell are reflection(反映,体现)s of Miami’s rise. Between 2020 and 2024 (the latest available year) the metro area(大都市区)’s GDP grew by 23%, against 13% in America overall (see chart 1). The rich are moving in. New residents include Ken Griffin, Citadel’s chief, Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and Blue Origin, a space firm that makes and launches its rockets in Florida, and Mark Zuckerberg, head of Meta. The fuel(推动力,燃料) is political as well as(以及,也) financial: Donald Trump spends more time nearby than anywhere but Washington, DC, mostly at his Mar-a-Lago(海湖庄园,特朗普的私人俱乐部) estate. Palm Beach is a hub(中心,枢纽) for policymakers and diplomats.
这位房产经纪人和830 Brickell大楼正是迈阿密崛起的缩影。2020年至2024年(有数据可查的最新年份),该都市区的GDP增长了23%,而全美平均增长为13%(见图表1)。富人正在涌入。新居民包括Citadel的首席执行官肯·格里芬、亚马逊和蓝色起源(一家在佛罗里达制造并发射火箭的太空公司)的创始人杰夫·贝索斯,以及Meta的掌门人马克·扎克伯格。推动力既来自政治也来自金融:唐纳德·特朗普在附近度过的时间仅次于华盛顿特区,主要在他的海湖庄园。棕榈滩是政策制定者和外交官的聚集地。
“Fifteen years ago,” the estate agent says, “the only people who thought it was smart to be rich here were Cubans, DJs and golfers.” He exaggerate(夸大,夸张)s: Miami has long been a regional hub. But its economy did rely on its proximity to Latin America, and a sometimes lurid entertainment industry.(但其经济确实依赖于靠近拉丁美洲的地理位置,以及有时耸人听闻的娱乐业。) Central Miami’s economy was roughly a quarter of the size of Manhattan’s.
“十五年前,”这位房产经纪人说,“只有古巴人、DJ和高尔夫球手才觉得在这里有钱是明智的。”他有些夸张:迈阿密长期以来一直是区域中心。但其经济确实依赖于靠近拉丁美洲的地理位置,以及有时耸人听闻的娱乐业。迈阿密市中心的经济规模大约是曼哈顿的四分之一。

