My new book, “The Murder of the Middle Class”, focuses on economic murder. Ebola is the embodiment of this murder. An Ebola pandemic will kill thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of Americans. But separate from the human tragedy, the economic cost will overwhelm and bankrupt our country.
The cost of treating just one Ebola patient is beyond comprehension: special ambulances; isolation chambers; hazmat suits; weeks or months in the hospital; quarantines for every person that came into contact with the Ebola victim; decontamination teams for their homes; and even special handling of bodies for burial.
We’re talking about millions of dollars per Ebola patient. Multiply that times thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of victims. If Ebola gets loose in a crowded urban area, America’s economy will crumble.
Then there's the death of tourism and commerce. Restaurants, hotels, airlines, shopping centers, movie theatres, sporting events, tourism and entertainment of all kinds will be shut down. Sports seasons will be cancelled. Americans will be trapped in their homes, frightened to go outside. Commerce will grind to a halt. Jobs lost by the millions. The economic devastation will be unimaginable. America’s economy (already on the ropes) will be in ashes. The result could be total economic ruin.
