While the human price is paramount and therefore cannot be measured, what impact does terrorism have on business, especially small businesses that may not have the resources available to large corporations to recover? Whenever there is a threat or attack gas prices increase, job security decreases (as businesses are forced to close or reservists are called up when the US strikes back), there is a general slowdown in the delivery of industrial inputs and travel. From a small business perspective, terrorism lowers foot traffic, interrupts customer relations, reduces cash flow and staff morale. Small businesses feels these affects more profoundly than large corporations as any short interruption can have a disproportionate effect. Also many small businesses exist in specialized markets with a smaller client base. For example, in the three months after 9/11 approximately 430,000 job-months and $2.8 billion dollars in wages were lost. 18,000 small businesses in Lower Manhattan near the World Trade Center were destroyed or displaced, resulting in lost jobs and their consequent wages. The numbers from the Boston Marathon bombing have yet to be calculated but it’s estimated that each day the greater metropolitan area was shut down cost somewhere in the ballpark of $333 million or more.

 

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Terrorism and Small Business [ infographic ]