US response and the economy...

Given the current state of the US economy and that this terrible attack could potentially shove the world into a global recession - would a wartime economic policy be enough now to kick-start the US economy again and in turn the global economy?

If this is the case do you think that this could influence the US’s level of retaliation and take us closer to full scale war than would otherwise be the case?

I don’t really think that anything like this would occur. IMHO it’d have be a relatively long conflict to stimulate the economy at all.

Look back on Desert Storm which failed to have any effect on the economy. Even the rebuilding of Kuwait, which took billions in aid, failed to help anyone except, possible, Bechtel.

It’d have to be big, and deadly. If we started losing a lot of equipment or recruiting many more members for the armed forces, then I could see a “wartime economy” taking shape. But not when we are just utilizing current equipment and stores of ammo, weapons, etc.

Let the past be your guide. Was there a global recession after a) Gulf War b) Tequila Crisis of 1995 c) Kobe Earthquake d) SF Earthquake e) Asian meltdown of 1997 f) Russian debt crisis?

This is a one-off blow to the US economy. It is by no means insignificant, but it’s not the end of the world.

We don’t need a war time economy. Actually, a war time economy is not nearly as productive as investing that same amount of money into infrastructure, education, etc. Making bullets simply does not provide the same amount of economic return as building a freeway.

We are already on the brink of a recession, this is bound to push us into it. That’s my guess when the stock market opens monday.