Terrorism Is Biggest Economic Threat

[wicket]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040817/ap_on_bi_ge/economy_threats

Terrorism has replaced weak employment growth and the ballooning budget deficit as the biggest immediate threat to the economy, the National Association for Business Economics said Tuesday.

The NABE said that terrorism and defense issues were picked by 40 percent of its survey panel as the biggest short-term threat facing the economy, well ahead of government spending and the deficit which was selected by 23 percent of the 117 NABE members surveyed.

"Terrorism produces the greatest short-term risk to the economy, and that's where NABE's members believe the next president should spend most of his effort," said Duncan Meldrum, president of NABE and chief economist for Air Products and Chemicals Inc.

In response to a separate question on the top priorities for the next administration, the NABE survey respondents said the next president should devote 25 percent of his time to the Middle East and terrorism.

In second place, the survey group recommended 17 percent of the next president's time and energy be devoted to the budget deficit, which is projected to hit a record $445 billion this year.

[phantom power]

1. how convenient

certainly takes the heat off of bankrupt economic policy, deficit spending, and greed, doesn't it.

[Art_from_Ark]

6. Yes, indeedy,

"terrorism" is today's all-purpose excuse

[havocmom]

2. Actually, the economy is the greatest terror

for most Americans. And last time I looked, it was US companies putting people out of work in the US and not the terrorists.

##@)$@#)(&)#@%@#)(*$@#)( lying bastards.

[wicket]

4. Everyone I talk to to is much more worried about their job and benefits...

....than terrorism.

[underpants]

3. That's odd --the Pentagon says the biggest threat is global warming

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1153513,00.html

The document predicts that abrupt climate change could bring the planet to the edge of anarchy as countries develop a nuclear threat to defend and secure dwindling food, water and energy supplies. The threat to global stability vastly eclipses that of terrorism, say the few experts privy to its contents.

[UpInArms]

5. from the following article, it would seem that "terra alerts"

based on old outdated information is the biggest threat

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/17/nyregion/17stores.html

Citigroup Stores Still Reeling in Aftermath of Terror Alert

When Laura Bush and her two daughters walked into the Citigroup building two weeks ago, just after it had been identified as a terrorist target, and bought a cup of coffee at Cucina, the shop's owner, Andreas Papandreou, was relieved.

Their presence, along with that of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Gov. George E. Pataki, trailed by dozens of cameras, was surely a sign that everything would soon be back to normal.

"She's here, we'll open our doors soon and we'll be fine," he recalled thinking on that Monday, Aug. 2, when Mrs. Bush arrived and the threat that had been revealed the day before seemed to abate. Then he waited. And waited.

"Tuesday came and there was nobody," Mr. Papandreou said yesterday. "Wednesday came and there was nobody. And it was the same story Thursday and Friday. Then it became normal not to have customers."

<snip>

All but one of the street entrances to the atrium are closed, and the shops are accessible only from the inside, to people who work in the building. So the stores have not been getting any customers from the street. Business is plummeting, merchants say. Moshe's kebab stand, which is inside the building and across from one of the now-closed atrium entrances, has gone from serving 80 to 150 sandwiches on a good day to a couple of dozen. Eastside Photo used to develop 150 rolls of film on a typical Monday; yesterday it had around 15 orders.

...more...