Very interesting article, AKSAR, thanks!

No doubt we are safer from some avenues of attack, as vulnerable as ever from others and perhaps more vulnerable than ever from some (cyber-terrorism).

There is another dimension to terrorism and that is the economic fallout from a large-scale attack. Recall that the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq were shut down on 9/11 and did not reopen until 9/17 -- the longest shutdown since 1933. Stock markets around the world closed on the fear of more attacks. On 9/17, the Dow dropped over 7% and by the end of the week had fallen nearly 1400 points. In that first week that the markets were reopened, nearly $1.5 trillion in economic value was lost. Insurance firms paid out $40 billion in 9/11-related claims. NYC's GDP declined $30b through 2002. Thousands of small businesses in NYC were affected, badly. The Fed hastily took a number of unprecedented steps to ensure liquidity of the financial system, some of which (super low interest rates) still reverb.

Terrorism can affect people in a number of ruinous ways.


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