Panel: The Economic Impact of Terrorism

Gary Hart, Wirth Chair, Graduate School of Public Affairs, University of Colorado; former U.S. Senator

Michael Intriligator, Professor of Economics, Political Science and Public Policy, University of California, Los Angeles; Director, UCLA Center for International Relations; Senior Fellow, Milken Institute

Peter Katona, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA

Irene Kyriakopoulos, Professor of Economics, Industrial College of the Armed Forces, National Defense Systems

Moderator: Glenn Yago, Director, Capital Studies, Milkin Institutes

What's the cost to local businesses--and the federal government--when terrorists attack the U.S.? What's the cost of maintaining our infrastructure?

Gary Hart kicks things off, sharing his thoughts on the economic impacts of terrorism, and its effects on the private and public sectors. First off , he notes that the center of terrorism isn't in the Middle East, but in Europe now.  He repeats what many other are saying: We are losing focus in our so-called "war on terror. " Terrorism isn't an ideology, but a method, he notes. Occupation fosters insurgency, he adds, noting that we need allies to help combat terrorism.

Michael Intriligator weighs in--he's all up in arms about L.A.'s ports, noting that only about three percent of the containers that come through the L.A./Long Beach ports are checked. Hart will later add that even just  a threatening phone call--a terrorist crying wolf and saying a bomb or other threat is hidden in one of the containers--would have a dire economic impact since all the containers have to be searched.

In terms of terrorists actually inflicting bodily harm on Americans, Peter Katona has some depressing warnings on how a widescale terrorist attack will affect the U.S. health care system. Under the possibility of a wide-spread biological attack, emergency rooms will be a nightmare, he notes, adding that on a typical Saturday night, emergency rooms are already overcrowded. Plus, he points to the cost of non-terrorist related illnesses such as SARS, which cost an estimated $30-$50 billion. He also looks at the local level of response, noting that in most communities, there is ineffective communication between fire and police departments, who historically do not get along with one another. Also, he points out that there are only 10,000 ventilators available in the country, not nearly enough in the event of a widespread attack.

Irene Kyriakopoulos notes that it isn't just the cost of terrorism we have to consider, but also the cost of mainting our infrastructure, the cost of war, and the cost of re-building countries, for instance.  Meanwhile, Intriligator comes back in, and takes the tactic that the U.S. needs to be cutting off the economic resources, and help end the training and recruitment of new terrorist members. Basically, cut off the supplies of terrorists.

Katona chimes in to argue that we also need to understand our adversaries better, noting there aren't enough high-ranking officials who speak Arab or can translate important Arab documents. Hart agrees, "noting that we can't send white, Harvard-educated guys" into Paris hoping to find out information about terrorist cells.

There's a quick Q and A at the end...but there is some frustration on the part of audience members, who press the panel members to tell them something that they can actually do with all this information. And I have to agree-- the panelists are making some good points (particularly Hart and Katona), but saying little that these audience members can use. What new information do these panelists have? There also seems to be little talk about the cost of education in terms of understanding terrorism and its roots.