UNL economics department chair Dr. Scott Fuess recently appeared on University of Nebraska-Omaha Television’s weekly issues and information program “Consider This..." to discuss some of the economic impacts of Japan’s devastating earthquake. Fuess discussed the three fold problem of the disaster including the earthquake, the tsunami tidal wave, and the serious damage to multiple nuclear reactors.
To conceive of the gravity of the situation Fuess asked viewers to think about what it would be like if the event had occurred in Nebraska.
“Imagine if Omaha disappeared,” said Fuess. “You’re talking the lives, the business, and the fortunes of roughly more than a half a million persons. That’s really the only thing you can do to try to make it believable or imaginable in the minds of people locally. Just take a very large metropolitan region and wipe it off the map."
Speaking from an economic point of view Fuess, who has lived in Japan and spent much of the past 15 years focusing on Japan’s economy, stressed the interrelated nature of the tragedy.
“The biggest economic threat that Japan is facing right now is the economic fallout as a result of the crippled nuclear power plant reactors. There’s a great deal of fear about the safety of food, of water, and of dairy products. That’s a major problem that’s effecting all of Japan today -- not just the afflicted area.
“Another thing from an economic standpoint is that the earthquake took 20 percent of the electrical grid and destroyed it. So one-fifth of the country’s ability to generate electricity has disappeared. That’s going to affect the way business is conducted, it’s going to affect transportation, it’s going to affect the way factories operate, and it’s going to affect people who are not even remotely connected to the earthquake zone."
The entire 30 minute program featuring Fuess and Jordan Hankins, Medical Director, Nuclear Medicine, of the University of Nebraska Medical Center can be viewed here:
Published: April 25, 2011