The internet and traditional media are both abuzz with stories from Occupy Wall Street. While much ink has been spilled supporting or denouncing the protesters, few have considered their cost. To be sure, the protests against Wall Street have financial costs that are very real. Whether one supports the protestors or sees them as a harbinger of the apocalypse, the financial toll–both macro and micro–is worth considering.
Occupy Wall Street Spreading
The protests against Wall Street have spread far beyond their initial confines of New York City’s financial district. Nearly every city of any size currently has an “Occupy” movement.
This means the costs extend far beyond just one city or one area, no matter how important to the world economy that area might be. The costs of Occupy Wall Street weave a thread through municipal budgets, small business payrolls and the individual bank accounts of the members.
Municipal Costs of Protests Against Wall Street
Few consider the strain the protests put on municipal government. Police details are not cheap, with police union’s often demanding overtime pay for such assignments.
In New York City alone, the NYPD reported $2 million in extra security costs due to the protests. Atlanta estimated its costs for policing its own homegrown Occupy movement at $300,000.
Oakland, the site of the most violence, claimed costs of $700,000. Further, there are added sanitation costs, though, to be fair, OWS have been praised for doing a good job of picking up after themselves.
Costs to the National Economy
The national economy incurs costs not just because of the added municipal costs across the country. The Occupy protests, particularly on Wall Street where protesters are occupying a heavily trafficked area with no small amount of tourist traffic, are causing local businesses to feel the pinch.
Fox News reported that Wall Street protesters forced a small café to cut a quarter of its staff. The café’s owner, for his part, was reticent to blame the protestors or the police.
In one of his several tirades against OWS, Mayor Bloomberg complained that the protesters were costing the city what was left of its tax base. Regardless of who one chooses to blame, the fact is clear that businesses are losing money because of the protests. Small business feels the pinch first and hardest.
Personal Costs
People are losing jobs because of the protests against Wall Street, but not just because employers are cutting back. At least one woman lost her job because her employer did not like her involvement in the movement. No matter why people lose their jobs due to OWS, they have less money to put back in the economy, causing a greater hardship for small business in the process.
What Do The Costs Mean?
The costs are not an indictment of the movement per se. One could just as easily blame the response to the protests against Wall Street for the costs as the protests themselves.
What they do mean is that the long-flogged cliché about “unintended consequences” carries some weight in this case. As the protests in Greece are showing, a national protest movement can have far-reaching implications for national economies.
References
You may learn more by referring to the references used in this article:
Scott Neuman, ‘Occupied’ Cities Becoming A Big Problem For Mayors, NPR
Joshua Rhett Miller, Cafe Owner Says He Was Forced to Cut Staff by Nearly a Fourth Because of ‘Occupy’ Protests, Fox News
Xeni Jardin, How Occupy Wall Street Cost Me My Job, Boing Boing
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At first they had a legit thing going on, being angry at the corruption and greed clearly going on. However the cause of the greed and corruption are the policies that come out of Washington, particularly this current administration; that allows greed and corruption to happen more.
This country hasn’t been practicing Capitalism for quite some time, its been crony Capitalism we’ve been doing, in which the government gets much too involved in areas it should not; then begins to play favorites, which of course ultimately hurts us. Its merely a stepping stone to Socialism, which unsurprisingly those people are calling for.
Lets not forget the fact that they’ve got the American Nazi party support, Communist Party USA, and even David Duke, I can only imagine what would have been in our phony media had the Tea Party had that kind of support; along with the anti-Israel rubbish going on there- its disgusting. People really need open their eyes to what is going on in this world, and now just follow.
This movement was created by people who have a different agenda of what this country should be, stuff this country was never meant to be. We’re seeing more and more the loons attached to this movement, and the hate that comes from them.
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The way i see it , is that occupy wall street is causing more harm than good. Tax payer money needs to go to keep these protester safe and getting cops to keep things secure. If people would just realize that getting a job and contributing to society would do more good.
Though I agree with many of OCW’s goals, I also believe there ar better ways to go about achieving what they’d like to achieve. As noted by some, OCW is costing taxpayers money and is hurting some small businesses. Tough, positively, they are making their issues talking points, at least in some corners.
That said, I take issue with the comment that “If people would just realize that getting a job and contrivuting society would do more good.” Comments such as these (and they are rather common) show that the commenters do NOT get it. Many of the OCW folks have jobs — and many even took paid-time off to do something they believe it. That is to be applauded. And they ARE contributing to society just by making their issue a talking point — more so them some folks who are contributing to the problems by burying their heads in the sand. OCW is NOT against people making money (or even LOTS of it) for success. They are againts people at tops of corporations being “REWARDED for FAILURE.”