Texas's coast affected by heavy rain and winds
http://www.foxbusiness.com/features/2017/09/07/how-hurricane-harvey-will-ripple-through-u-s-economy.html
http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/07/investing/economy-hurricane-irma-harvey-florida-texas-jobs/index.html
For the past few weeks, the United States has had to endure the effects of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma, some of the worst natural disasters in United States history. As these storms continue to damage cities, economists are analyzing the impact of these storms on the United States economy.
Since Hurricane Harvey started earlier than than Hurricane Irma, the economic impact of this natural disaster is becoming more clear. Just last Thursday (08/31), the number of jobless claims had the highest one-week jump since Superstorm Sandy in 2012, according to the Labor Department. The gas price in Houston has also increased from $2.35 last month to $2.66 last Wednesday, resulting in some inflation. Hurricane Irma has not had as much of an economic impact yet, but it is predicted to have an even bigger effect than Harvey when it hits Florida's big cities.
Analysis: I think that that the number of jobless claims will increase as after the storm is over as opposed to right now because people generally file jobless claims after the whole storm is over. Though these hurricanes are devastating to the people that lived in those cities, I do not think the entire nation's economy will not be affected very much in the long run. In fact, there could be a possibility of a better economy after all the relief efforts are over, since the amount of spending and the number of jobs increase. Hurricane Andrew, Hurricane Katrina, and Superstorm Sandy are all evidence of this. I completely agree that the impact on the lives of residents in affected areas are much more important to consider than the impact on the economy.
Discussion Questions:
How do you think the Hurricanes will affect our economy?
How long do you think it will take to recover from this?
2 comments:
I think that you are on the right track as to how the Hurricane is going to affect the economy. Of course there is going to be a huge jobless period in the areas affected, but after relief efforts, I am sure jobs will be back. This will get the economy running up again (assuming no major events in that time) and left secure in the long run. As for recovery, it is hard to predict as there has been a lot of damage, but with current technology and innovations, I believe that relief efforts will be much more effective and completed in a shorter time than were in previous disasters.
When discussing rebuilding the economy, I think we may be oversimplifying the matter. People lost their businesses in Hurricane Katrina. They had to rebuild everything from scratch. All that capital in a building just got washed away. Sure, people can rebuild their homes, but our society is materialistic, and people may lose many of those material objects in the storm. Thus, they lose a lot of wealth. I believe it will take at least a few years for the economy to recover. I know Florida has quite a bit of tourism and if those businesses get destroyed in the hurricane, then they cannot attract the same amount of people. Sure, the hurricane may not affect the nation's. However, I don't believe Trump's allotment of $15 billion will be enough to treat the damage from both hurricanes.
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