Terrorists Can Cause a Recession with Money Anxiety

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Acts of terror promote economic uncertainty and financial anxiety in people, who instinctively react by reducing spending. A mere 5 percent reduction in personal consumption brought by fear of terrorism is enough to push the U.S. economy into the next recession by lowering Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 3.5 percent. Acts of terror promote economic uncertainty and financial anxiety in people, who instinctively react by reducing spending. A 5 percent reduction in personal consumption, which makes up nearly 70 percent of the U.S. economy, will decrease Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 3.5 percent or negative 1.4 percent based on the 2015 third quarter GDP of 2.1 percent. Terrorism impacts the economy in two distinct ways. The first is the immediate impact on commerce right after a terror attack. The November 2015 terror attack in Paris de facto paralyzed commerce in parts of Paris, and later on in the entire city of Brussels in Belgium, for a few days. Repeated economic disruptions like these can have severe economic impact on local and national economies.

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