The U.S. has relentlessly been struck by extreme natural disasters in the past couple of months. The results were devastating and catastrophic for some, but have somehow brought "good news". Despite the destruction that hurricane Harvey and Irma brought, the U.S. GDP was able to grow at 3% in the 3Q - Something that hasn't happened since 2014.
Contrary to popular belief, the hurricanes did not hurt the economy but have somehow boosted it. This isn't an indication that we should therefore have more hurricanes, it was definitely an unexpected byproduct of terrible disasters. Economists believe that the effect of the hurricanes is impossible to be calculated, but they have come up with some statistics that indicate the growth was mostly a result of consumer buying products and businesses restocking. Probably because they weren't able to get supplies for a prolonged period of time.
Notably, this unprecedented GDP growth is shocking because of the events that happened prior to it. However, economics do believe that it's a sign of hopefulness from the american people in the economy and the U.S. economy to be able to rebuild, metaphorically and literally, the things they have lost, the economy, and their community.
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This is very interesting, for obvious reasons. I would have never thought that a hurricane or any natural disaster could have anything but a negative effect on the economy. The fact that the GDP has actually grown is actually mind boggling. I wonder the specific areas of the economy that were positively effected.
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