The Shutting Down Of Boston, Ctd

Tomasky wonders if it was necessary:

If the argument is that it’s for people’s safety, well…okay, but how many people could this guy really kill? On the day that he set out to kill dozens, he fell well short of that. And what are the odds that any particular individual would cross paths with this guy? When did telling people to use caution and venture only where necessary stop being enough?

And how long is this going to go on? Through the weekend? Seriously? What if the guy is long gone? What if he killed himself somewhere and his body isn’t found for days?

Paul Campos adds:

While I appreciate that police work is made easier by completely immobilizing the population of a major metropolitan area, this sort of massive over-reaction to the failure to apprehend one 19-year-old amateur terrorist (I doubt Al Qaeda types and the like would consider knocking off a 7-11, shooting a security guard, and carjacking an SUV to be the smart play a few hours after having their faces spread all over the internet) is what gives the performers of what are essentially bloody publicity stunts ever-more motivation to engage in their crimes.

Update from a reader:

I know this sounds like hearsay, but my brother is a Boston Cop and there is more going on than is being reported. BPD is worried about bombs planted all over the city. They could be false threats, but they’re taking them seriously and worried these guys have confederates.

Brad Plumer calculates what the Boston shutdown will cost:

We can do a quick back-of-the-envelope calculation. The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy metropolitan area had a GDP of some $326 billion in 2011. That’s an economy bigger than Ireland’s or Finland’s or Greece’s or Portugal’s.

So a complete shutdown would cost nearly $1 billion per day, though analysts tell Yuval Rosenberg at the Fiscal Times that the actual effects will likely be smaller, and similar to that of a major blizzard. Some economic activity will simply get pushed to a later date. And salaried workers will still get paid. Hourly wage workers, however could take a hit — particularly low-wage workers.