Economy taking on water

Confirming my thoughts- this just in from the Christian Science Monitor: >US economy takes big hit A few points that jump out from this article:

“The prevailing view now is that Katrina will curb the nation's economic growth - which has been running at an annualized rate of more than 3 percent - by perhaps 0.5 percent in the second half of 2005. Then, the economy could get a Katrina stimulus, as rebuilding gets under way in earnest early in the new year.”

Strikes me that that .05 percent from 3 percent is a 17% hit to the national economy. That seems pretty serious by anyone’s measurements.

"In our preliminary analysis, employment levels will not be back to pre- hurricane levels for another six to seven years" in New Orleans

That’s just New Orleans. They are not even looking at Mississippi or Alabama, and they don’t even get into the impact on the farm states of having the 5th largest port in world shut down.

There are some really rough times coming down the pike.