Honolulu - Economy

Economy

The largest city and airport in the Hawaiian Islands, Honolulu acts as a natural gateway to the islands' large tourism industry, which brings millions of visitors and contributes $10 billion annually to the local economy. Honolulu's location in the Pacific also makes it a large business and trading hub, particularly between the East and the West. Other important aspects of the city's economy include military defense, research and development, and manufacturing.

Among the companies based in Honolulu are:

  • Alexander & Baldwin
  • Bank of Hawaii
  • Central Pacific Bank
  • First Hawaiian Bank
  • Hawaii Medical Service Association
  • Hawaii Pacific Health
  • Hawaiian Electric Industries
  • Matson Navigation Company
  • The Queen's Health Systems

Go! Mokulele, Hawaiian Airlines, Island Air, and Aloha Air Cargo are headquartered in the CDP. Prior to its dissolution, Aloha Airlines was headquartered in the CDP. At one time Mid-Pacific Airlines had its headquarters on the property of Honolulu International Airport.

In 2009, Honolulu had a 4.5% increase in the average price of rent, maintaining it in the second most expensive rental market ranking among 210 U.S. metropolitan areas.

Since no national bank chains have any branches in Hawaii, many visitors and new residents use different banks. First Hawaiian Bank is the largest and oldest bank in Hawaii and their headquarters are at the First Hawaiian Center, the tallest building in the State of Hawaii.

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Famous quotes containing the word economy:

    “I favor the policy of economy, not because I wish to save money, but because I wish to save people. The men and women of this country who toil are the ones who bear the cost of the Government. Every dollar that we carelessly waste means that their life will be so much the more meager. Every dollar that we prudently save means that their life will be so much the more abundant. Economy is idealism in its most practical terms.”
    —Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)

    “Even the poor student studies and is taught only political economy, while that economy of living which is synonymous with philosophy is not even sincerely professed in our colleges. The consequence is, that while he is reading Adam Smith, Ricardo, and Say, he runs his father in debt irretrievably.”
    —Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    “Quidquid luce fuit tenebris agit: but also the other way around. What we experience in dreams, so long as we experience it frequently, is in the end just as much a part of the total economy of our soul as anything we “really” experience: because of it we are richer or poorer, are sensitive to one need more or less, and are eventually guided a little by our dream-habits in broad daylight and even in the most cheerful moments occupying our waking spirit.”
    —Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)