1887

OECD Economics Department Working Papers

Working papers from the Economics Department of the OECD that cover the full range of the Department’s work including the economic situation, policy analysis and projections; fiscal policy, public expenditure and taxation; and structural issues including ageing, growth and productivity, migration, environment, human capital, housing, trade and investment, labour markets, regulatory reform, competition, health, and other issues.

The views expressed in these papers are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the OECD or of the governments of its member countries.

English, French

The Economic Consequences of Terrorism

The unprecedented 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States caused massive casualties and damage, and ushered in an era of greater uncertainty. While a prompt and vigorous policy response helped limit the immediate economic impact of the aggression, the heightened terrorist threat has some long-lasting, if diffuse, macroeconomic repercussions. Three channels of influence are explored in this paper: shrinking insurance coverage stemming from the perception of greater risk, higher trade costs possibly affecting international trade, and stepped-up security spending partially rolling back the “peace dividend” of the 1990s. It is argued that, in the absence of new large-scale terrorist attacks, and provided terrorism risk is dealt with efficiently, the net long-run macroeconomic impact is probably tangible but limited ...

English

Keywords: terrorism, fiscal policy, monetary policy, defence, transport, security, uncertainty, insurance
JEL: E32: Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics / Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles / Business Fluctuations; Cycles; O49: Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth / Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity / Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity: Other; E58: Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics / Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit / Central Banks and Their Policies; F22: International Economics / International Factor Movements and International Business / International Migration; G14: Financial Economics / General Financial Markets / Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading; E23: Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics / Consumption, Saving, Production, Investment, Labor Markets, and Informal Economy / Macroeconomics: Production; H56: Public Economics / National Government Expenditures and Related Policies / National Security and War; E65: Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics / Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook / Studies of Particular Policy Episodes; L83: Industrial Organization / Industry Studies: Services / Sports; Gambling; Restaurants; Recreation; Tourism; L91: Industrial Organization / Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities / Transportation: General; D81: Microeconomics / Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty / Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty; F19: International Economics / Trade / Trade: Other; D23: Microeconomics / Production and Organizations / Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights; L98: Industrial Organization / Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities / Industry Studies: Utilities and Transportation: Government Policy
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error