Cost Of Sandy To Be Determined, May Not All Be Bad News
By John Ostapkovich
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- There is no way to tell just how much Hurricane Sandy is going to cost the economy, but it may not all be bad news.
Damage is still mounting, but John Challenger, CEO of the outplacement firm, Challenger, Gray and Christmas, says Katrina set the record with $108-billion in ruin, Ike at nearly $30-billion and Irene, $15.5-billion in the United States.
"We'll see where this storm fits in," Challenger says, "but those are big losses that occurred not only because there's damage to buildings and infrastructure, but also because economic activity slows down."
But, eventually, Challenger says it rebounds. Insurance payments come in, government relief, too, and people get hired, items purchased, things repaired and, if the economy doesn't exactly roar back, it doesn't stay depressed.
Challenger says firms with employees who can work from home stand a better chance of getting things done, even while Sandy storms through.
