Discussion Paper
What are the Costs of Superstorm Sandy?
Abstract: Superstorm Sandy has had widespread effects in the tri-state region. Early estimates of the total national costs have been in the range of $30 billion to $50 billion. More recently, the New York State governor’s office has estimated state costs to be $32.8 billion, while the New Jersey governor’s office has calculated state costs to be $29.5 billion; these figures exclude mitigation costs—money spent to protect against future storms. It is important to remember that such figures incorporate two distinct types of costs: first, direct costs related to the destruction of physical assets, such as buildings, automobiles, bridges, and roads; and second, indirect costs related to the loss of economic activity resulting from the disruption. This post outlines the differences between these two types of costs, and also discusses what these cost measures typically neglect to include.
Keywords: infrastructures; costs; Sandy; damage estimates;
JEL Classification: R1;
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Bibliographic Information
Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Part of Series: Liberty Street Economics
Publication Date: 2012-12-17
Number: 20121217