International Economic Strategy after September 11

The direct economic costs of the terrorist attacks in the United States may amount to $20 billion insurance estimates say, but indirect costs may be running around 150 times that amount, as measured by world stock markets shedding around $3 trillion in wealth. The gap reflects the fear of global disruption – even war – following the attacks. The economic solution is not a stimulus package for the US economy, as some are urging, but confidence-building measures to assure the world that today’s global networked economy will continue functioning efficiently and without disruption.