Protecting the Nation s Seaports: Balancing Security and Cost. Editors: Jon D. Haveman Howard J. Shatz

Transcription

1 Protecting the Nation s Seaports: Balancing Security and Cost Editors: Jon D. Haveman Howard J. Shatz 2006

2 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Protecting the nation s seaports: balancing security and cost / edited by Jon D. Haveman, Howard J. Shatz p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and indexes. ISBN-13: ISBN-10: Harbors Security measures United States Economic aspects. 2. Marine terminals Security measures United States Economic aspects. 3. Shipping Security measures United States. 4. Terrorism United States Prevention Economic aspects. I. Haveman, Jon D., 1964-II. Shatz, Howard J. HE553.P dc Copyright 2006 by Public Policy Institute of California All rights reserved San Francisco, CA Short sections of text, not to exceed three paragraphs, may be quoted without written permission provided that full attribution is given to the source and the above copyright notice is included. PPIC does not take or support positions on any ballot measure or on any local, state, or federal legislation, nor does it endorse, support, or oppose any political parties or candidates for public office. Research publications reflect the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff, officers, or Board of Directors of the Public Policy Institute of California.

3 Foreword It is sometimes difficult to understand how much the world has changed since September 11. Even diplomats and foreign policy experts, who have far greater knowledge than most, have difficulty understanding all the consequences of events that have unfolded since September 11. One certain consequence is that the daily media reports of death and destruction from all over the world have made it imperative to intensify security measures in many ways. With this report, Protecting the Nation s Seaports: Balancing Security and Cost, PPIC tries to shed some light on how one significant element of these global security imperatives is affecting Americans and Californians. California is home to three large seaports that are of major significance to the nation s economy Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Oakland. The authors in this volume inform us that all California ports are vulnerable to a terrorist attack and that disabling any of the big three could have serious implications for the economic health of the region, as well as for lives and property in the immediate vicinity. This volume is comprehensive it describes and analyzes what could happen if a terrorist attack on a port were to occur, what can be done to deter such an attack, the characteristics of U.S. port security programs, what factors stand in the way of an adequate port security policy, and some alternative methods for financing that policy. Most important, this multiauthored volume is not alarmist it is a thoughtful and balanced look at a major problem and its context: how the global economy has fostered huge increases in international trade and how terrorists could exploit the vulnerability of this massive global goods movement. Protecting the Nation s Seaports may well become a standard reference volume for understanding the issue of port security for the nation and particularly for California. The authors describe the problems iii

4 and the solutions, but full implementation of new policy is still off in the future. Our hope is that this volume will help speed up the process of both policy development and implementation. David W. Lyon President and CEO Public Policy Institute of California iv

5 Contents Foreword... iii Figures... xi Tables... xiii Acknowledgments... xv Acronyms... xix Map of the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach... xxiii 1. INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY by Jon D. Haveman and Howard J. Shatz... 1 The Issue of Port Security... 1 The PPIC Port Security Project... 5 Summary of Main Findings... 6 The Economic Effects of a Terrorist Attack on a Port... 6 Best Practices in Port Security Programs and Finance Implications and Conclusions References PORTS, TRADE, AND TERRORISM: BALANCING THE CATASTROPHIC AND THE CHRONIC by Edward E. Leamer and Christopher Thornberg Introduction The Cost-Benefit Analysis of Security Most Shocks Do Not Cause Recessions September 11 Did Not Cause the 2001 Recession Natural Disasters Also Do Not Cause Recessions How Much Disruption to Supply Chains? The Problem Is With Labor Previous Port Closures Hold Lessons for the Present Previous Port Shutdowns Have Not Had a Great Effect on the Economy Event Studies v

6 Summary and Conclusions Appendix References THE COSTS OF A TERRORIST ATTACK ON TERMINAL ISLAND AT THE TWIN PORTS OF LOS ANGELES AND LONG BEACH by Peter Gordon, James E. Moore, II, Harry W. Richardson, and Qisheng Pan Introduction The Los Angeles and Long Beach Ports The Southern California Planning Model Radiological Bomb Attack Simulations Terminal Island Attack Simulation Qualifications and Comparisons Conclusions References BOOM BOXES: CONTAINERS AND TERRORISM by Stephen S. Cohen Introduction Threats Direct Catastrophic Damage Disabling Autoimmune Reactions Itineraries, Scenarios, and Documentation: Or, One Container, Two Containers, Three Containers, Four Simple and Less-Simple Itineraries Mixed Loads and Complicated Itineraries Container Bob and Other Indicators Defense Layers Conclusion The Threats The Constraints The Approach to Defense References vi

7 5. HARNESSING A TROJAN HORSE: ALIGNING SECURITY INVESTMENTS WITH COMMERCIAL TRAJECTORIES IN CARGO CONTAINER SHIPPING by Jay Stowsky Introduction How Has the Private Sector Responded to the Terrorist Threat to Shipping and Ports? The Coexistence of Successive Technology Generations Other Factors Shaping the Private Sector Response The Need for Standards Public Good Aspects of Maritime and Port Security Liability Issues Tradeoffs Between Security and Other Societal Values The Special Sensitivity of the Security Market to Terrorist Events Key Technologies Sensor Technologies Identification and Authentication Technologies Screening Technologies Surveillance Technologies Antitamper Seals and Tracking and Inspection Technologies Integrated Solution and Data Analysis Technologies Conclusions and Policy Recommendations References GOVERNANCE CHALLENGES IN PORT SECURITY: A CASE STUDY OF EMERGENCY RESPONSE CAPABILITIES AT THE PORTS OF LOS ANGELES AND LONG BEACH by Amy B. Zegart, Matthew C. Hipp, and Seth K. Jacobson Introduction Organizational Challenges Background Findings and Recommendations Status of Implementation Conceptual Challenges Background vii

8 Community Emergency Response Teams Findings and Recommendations Status of Implementation Obstacles and Success Factors Key Success Factors Conclusion Interviews References THE GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: U.S. PORT SECURITY PROGRAMS by Jon D. Haveman, Howard J. Shatz, and Ernesto Vilchis Introduction Port Security Before the September 11 Attacks Current Port Security Measures Maritime Transportation Security Act of The Container Security Initiative The Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism Other Customs and Border Protection Programs Federal Port Security Grants Evaluating Port Security Policies Optimizing Security Programs, Resources, and Activities Effectiveness Unclear or Duplicated Authority and Lack of Priorities and Implementation Funding Conclusion References FINANCING PORT SECURITY by Jon D. Haveman and Howard J. Shatz Introduction Efficiently Financing Port Security Public Goods and Port Security Negative Externalities and Port Activity The Absence of Private Insurance Markets Methods for Financing Port Security Benefits and Costs viii

9 Implications for Financing Port Security References Glossary About the Authors Related PPIC Publications ix

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11 Figures 2.1. Annual Number of Significant Terrorist Attacks on the United States, Growth in Real GDP and Consumer Spending, Indexes of Personal Income Around Significant Local Events Indexes of Payroll Employment Around Disasters U.S. Goods Trade and the 1960s Strikes Imports Through California Customs Districts, National Imports of Goods During Previous Port Shutdowns Value of Manufacturing Production During Port Shutdowns Producer Prices Around Past Labor-Related Shutdowns Quarterly Changes in Real Consumer Spending on Goods Spatial Distribution of Job Losses from a One-Year Closure of Terminal Island Port Security Decision Structure xi

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13 Tables 1.1. California Port Security Grant Program Allocations, Fiscal Year Value of Trade Through Los Angeles County Ports, Imports by Transport Type Inventory-to-Sales Ratios Employment Growth and Port Strikes Port Shutdown Effect on Trade A.1. Economic Performance Regressions with Strike Control Dummy Variables a. Output and Employment Losses from a 15-Day Closure of the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach b. Output and Employment Losses from a 120-Day Closure of the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach Change in Transportation Network Delay Costs for Multiple Impact Scenarios Highway and Rail Access Bridges to Terminal Island Output and Employment Losses from a One-Year Closure of Terminal Island Total Output and Highway Network Losses for Alternative Bridge Reconstruction Periods Agencies, and Their Political Jurisdictions, Responsible for Port Security at the Los Angeles/Long Beach Port Complex Estimated Costs and Benefits of MTSA Measures Foreign Ports Participating in the CSI Federal Port Security Grants xiii

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15 Acknowledgments A great many people proved instrumental to the completion of this project. Ellen Hanak and Mark Baldassare carefully read the manuscript at various stages, Richard Greene proved a thorough and helpful editor and mapmaker, and Joyce Peterson provided an additional review. External reviews of the entire manuscript by Michael Nacht, Jack Riley, and Margaret Wrightson, and of individual chapters by Randolph Hall, Jack Kyser, John Martin, Jon Sonstelie, and Page Stoutland, provided essential feedback and quality control. Any errors of fact or emphasis remain those of the editors or authors. Ernesto Vilchis, Greg Wright, and Ethan Jennings served as research associates (as well as a co-author in the case of Vilchis), and Wright took primary responsibility for preparing the list of acronyms and the glossary. Jennifer Paluch provided additional cartographic efforts and expertise. Patricia Bedrosian gave the manuscript a final polish. Numerous port security experts took part in PPIC programs or otherwise discussed the issues with us, often candidly. The editors thank Michael Nacht, Steven Cash, Marc MacDonald, Gerald Swanson, and Lawrence Thibeaux for helping kick off the project at a public forum on port security, as well as Steve Flynn and Page Stoutland for giving separate presentations on port security. Others from the private sector, academia, and government participated in a private workshop at the beginning of the project and at a midterm update, helping keep the project on course. The editors also thank security experts at several of California s major ports, staff members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, staff of the Transportation Security Administration, and Coast Guard officials in Los Angeles, Oakland, and Washington, D.C., for sharing their time and expertise. Thanks also go to participants at a symposium on Economic Costs and Consequences of a Terrorist Attack, University of Southern California Center for Risk and xv

16 Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events, for comments on an early draft of Chapter 7. The authors of each chapter also acknowledge a number of people and organizations who contributed to their work at various stages. For Chapter 2, Edward E. Leamer and Christopher Thornberg thank Jeany Zhao for research assistance and several security experts for helping them understand the types of risks that the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach face. The research for Chapter 3, by Peter Gordon, James E. Moore, II, Harry W. Richardson, and Qisheng Pan, was supported by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security through the Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events (CREATE) under grant number N However, any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect views of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Chapter 4, by Stephen S. Cohen, draws on ongoing research at the Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy (BRIE) on port security and mobile communications supported, in part, by the European Union and DoCoMo Mobile Society Institute. Face-to-face interviews and extended conversations made this work possible. Many people contributed their time and patience in efforts to provide information on this complex and delicate subject. Not all wish to be acknowledged publicly. Sander Doves at the Port of Rotterdam, Steve Flynn at the Council on Foreign Relations, Howard Hall at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Craig Epperson at the Pacific Maritime Association, Peter Wolters at the European Intermodal Association, Dietmar Jost at the World Customs Organization, Roland Van Bocket at the European Union, Der-Horug Lee in Singapore, Francesco Messineo and Antonio Barbara in Italy, and Admirals Dassatti and Scarlatti of the Italian Navy were generous with their time, knowledge, and good humor. Berkeley undergraduate Sara Karubian contributed to the research and to the maintenance of good spirits. For Chapter 5, Jay Stowsky thanks John Gage and Linda Schacht- Gage for their generous gift to the Information Technology and Homeland Security Project at the Richard and Rhoda Goldman School xvi

17 of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley, which supported this work. For Chapter 6, Amy B. Zegart, Matthew C. Hipp, and Seth K. Jacobson thank Richard Riordan, Peter Neffenger, Jack Weiss, Don Knabe, and Janice Hahn for their support of this project, as well as the 75 government officials, labor representatives, and shipping industry executives who generously shared their insights and expertise in personal interviews. Finally, the editors thank the authors of Chapters 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 for the overall quality of their work and their patience and good humor in dealing with reviews and numerous revisions. xvii

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19 Acronyms AIS Automatic Identification System AMS Area Maritime Security BEA Bureau of Economic Analysis BRIE Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy CBP Customs and Border Protection CBRN Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Weapons CEO Chief Executive Officer CERT Community Emergency Response Team CFS Commodity Flow Survey CMSA Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area CREATE Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events CSI Container Security Initiative C-TPAT Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism DHS Department of Homeland Security DOT Department of Transportation EPA Environmental Protection Agency EU European Union FAA Federal Aviation Administration FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency G-7 Group of Seven GAO Government Accountability Office, formerly General Accounting Office GDP Gross Domestic Product GPS Global Positioning System HSPD Homeland Security Presidential Directive ICS Incident Command System ICT Institute for Counter-Terrorism xix

20 ILWU IMO IMPLAN IO ISPS IT LAX LLNL MARAD MARSEC MTS MTSA NOAA OCS ODP OECD OSC PCE PMA PMSA PPI R&D RDD REM RFID RPM SA SAAR SCAG SCPM SHSP SLGCP SOLAS TAZ International Longshore and Warehouse Union International Maritime Organization Impact Analysis for Planning Input-Output International Ship and Port Facility Security Information Technology Los Angeles International Airport Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Maritime Administration Maritime Security Marine Transportation System Maritime Transportation Security Act National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Outer Continental Shelf Office of Domestic Preparedness Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development Operation Safe Commerce Passenger Car Equivalent Pacific Maritime Association Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area Producer Price Index Research and Development Radiological Dispersal Device Roentgen Equivalent Man Radio Frequency Identification Radiation Portal Monitor Seasonally Adjusted Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate Southern California Association of Governments Southern California Planning Model State Homeland Security Program State and Local Government Coordination and Preparedness Safety of Life at Sea Traffic Analysis Zone xx

21 TEU TIA TMSARM TRIA TSA TWIC UASI UPC USCG VAR VLSI WMD Twenty-Foot-Equivalent Unit Terrorism Information Awareness, formerly Total Information Awareness Transportation Security Administration Maritime Self-Assessment Risk Module Terrorism Risk Insurance Act Transportation Security Administration Transportation Worker Identification Credential Urban Areas Security Initiative Universal Product Code United States Coast Guard Vector Autoregression Very-Large-Scale Integrated Weapons of Mass Destruction xxi

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23 9th Long Beach Miles Miles Alameda Anaheim Port of Long Beach Legend Major roads Streets Railroads Port of Los Angeles Pacific Ocean Los Angeles Orange San Bernardino Riverside Pacific San Pedro Wilmington Vincent Thomas Bridge Commodore Schuyler F. Heim Bridge Badger Rail Bridge Gerald Desmond Bridge Long Beach TERMINAL ISLAND The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach xxiii

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25 1. Introduction and Summary Jon D. Haveman and Howard J. Shatz Public Policy Institute of California Immediately following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States shut down its air traffic system for several days. In a less-well-known move, the government also temporarily halted the maritime transportation system, preventing ships approaching U.S. shores from reaching their destinations. Just as airplanes could serve as weapons, so could ships and their cargo. In the days, weeks, and months following the attacks, official and public attention focused much more intensely on increasing the safety of air travel than on securing the nation s seaports. However, seaport vulnerabilities did not go unnoticed. By late 2002, the U.S. Congress had passed legislation and government agencies had begun implementing programs directed at securing the nation s seaports. But are the port security policies, programs, and mechanisms now in place equal to the task, and what might be done to improve them? This report addresses those questions by considering the likely economic effects of a terrorist attack on a port, best practices in key areas of port security, how well government programs respond to major challenges in port security, and how port security should be financed. The Issue of Port Security The term port security serves as shorthand for the broad effort to secure the entire maritime supply chain, from the factory gate in a foreign country to the final destination of the product in the United States. The need to secure ports and the supply chain feeding goods into the ports stems from two concerns. The first is that transporting something from one place to another the very activity that the ports facilitate is an important activity for terrorists. Terrorists could use a 1

26 port as a conduit through which to build an arsenal within the nation s borders. The second concern is that ports themselves present attractive targets for terrorists. Ports are a significant potential choke point for an enormous amount of economic activity. The 361 U.S. seaports make an immense contribution to U.S. trade and the U.S. economy. They move about 80 percent of all U.S. international trade by weight, and about 95 percent of all U.S. overseas trade, excluding trade with Mexico and Canada. By value, $807 billion worth of goods flowed through the seaports in 2003, about 41 percent of all U.S. international goods trade. This value is higher than the value of trade moved by all modes in any single leading industrial country except Germany. Temporarily shutting down a major U.S. port could impose significant economic costs throughout not only the United States but also the world. Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has labeled the destruction of the U.S. economy as one of his goals: If their economy is finished, they will become too busy to enslave oppressed people. It is very important to concentrate on hitting the U.S. economy with every available means. 1 The potential for a port closure to disrupt economic activity has been made clear several times in recent years. In 2002, the closure of all West Coast ports was clearly responsible for some element of economic disruption, with estimates of lost activity ranging from the hundreds of millions of dollars per day to several billion. In September 2005, Hurricane Katrina further served to reinforce the fact that ports are an integral feature of our goods distribution system. The closure of the Port of New Orleans and many smaller ports along the Gulf Coast is likely to have adversely affected U.S. grain exports, although at the time of this writing, cost estimates were not available. Hurricane Katrina further illustrated the effects of disruptions to the flow of oil, gasoline, and natural gas to the nation s economy. That a natural disaster can produce such a result implies that an attack on oil terminals at U.S. ports could be both desirable and effective for terrorists. Beyond their economic role, the largest seaports are also near major population centers, so the use of a weapon of mass destruction at a port 1 Agence France Presse (2001). 2

27 could injure or kill thousands of people. In addition, a weapon such as a nuclear device could cause vast environmental and social disruption and destroy important non-port infrastructure in these urban areas such as airports and highway networks. How much risk is there for either of these concerns? U.S. law enforcement, academic, and business analysts believe that although the likelihood of an ocean container being used in a terrorist attack is low, the vulnerability of the maritime transportation system is extremely high, and the consequence of a security breach, such as the smuggling of a weapon of mass destruction into the country, would be disastrous. 2 Others take issue with the notion that the likelihood of a container attack is low, believing that an increase in global maritime terrorism in 2004 and the reputed appointment late that year of a maritime specialist as head of al-qaeda in Saudi Arabia portended a significant maritime attack. 3 Before September 11, maritime experts offered this broad definition of port security: protective measures taken to prevent crime and maintain a state of freedom from danger, harm, or risk of loss to person or property. 4 This definition failed to include the dangers now understood to be part of the terrorism threat. An updated definition today might read, protective measures taken to secure the maritimerelated intermodal supply chain from terrorism, the unwitting transmission of terrorism-related assets, and crime; effective response should those measures fail; and freedom from danger, harm, and loss to person and property. Port security is a challenge for many reasons. In the fall of 2000, security at America s ports was labeled as generally poor to fair. 5 2 U.S. Government Accountability Office (2005a), p According to Aegis Defense Services Ltd. (2004), Saud Hamud al-utaibi, the al- Qaeda operative, was a maritime specialist linked to the 2000 attack on the USS Cole and the 2002 attack on the French supertanker M.V. Limburg. The appointment ultimately did not provide significant upside career potential, however, because Al-Utaibi reportedly was killed in a gun battle with Saudi security officials in April 2005 (CNN.com, 2005, and Aljazeera.net, 2005). 4 Interagency Commission on Crime and Security in U.S. Seaports (2000). 5 Interagency Commission on Crime and Security in U.S. Seaports (2000). 3

28 Immediately after the September 11 attacks, the greatest impediment to improving port security was, therefore, the extent to which it had previously been neglected. Although officials are no longer neglecting security, numerous factors make port security planning and implementation a continuing challenge. These include Volume. An extremely large amount of goods flows through the maritime supply chain. In 2004, America s ports handled almost 20 million ocean containers. 6 Intermodality. Goods arrive at and depart from the port not only by ship but by rail and truck. Jurisdictional conflicts. Federal, state, and local governments all may have oversight over some portion of port activities. In addition, some ports are managed by local or regional port authorities, whereas others are managed by local or state governments or by private entities. Quantity of stakeholders. Carriers, shippers, logistics firms, producers, labor unions, and others all work at or use the ports and all must be involved in security efforts for these to be effective. Global nature of industry. Any serious security effort requires international cooperation from foreign governments, foreign port operators, and foreign ship owners. Time sensitivity. Production has moved to just-in-time processes, with manufacturers relying on steady shipments of inputs. Public and private involvement. Both sectors are likely to be interested in having the other carry the burden of financing or even planning security efforts. Port security has important implications for California. In terms of container volumes, the California ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Oakland are the largest, second-largest, and fourth-largest ports in the United States. Combined, they handled 40 percent of all containers that flowed through U.S. ports in They handled 43.2 percent of 6 American Association of Port Authorities (2005). 4

29 loaded import containers, which present the greatest threat. 7 In terms of the value of total trade, Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Oakland were ranked first, fifth, and 19th among all U.S. ports air, land, and sea in 2003, the most recent year of available data, handling 12.3 percent of all U.S. international trade. 8 The PPIC Port Security Project The purpose of this report is to explore the economics and governance of port security. The chapters add value to a growing policy conversation in three broad areas. The first, discussed in Chapters 2 and 3, covers the economic consequences of a terrorist attack on a port. Such an analysis can shed light on the relative importance of protecting ports as opposed to other assets, such as skyscrapers, shopping malls, railroads, or airports. Estimates of how much a successful attack might cost the U.S. economy have ranged in the billions and even trillions of dollars, depending on the nature of the attack. Better defining the possible costs of a terrorist attack on a port can help policymakers better allocate scarce security resources, including money, people, and equipment. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the federal government s chief fiscal and program watchdog, recommends that the United States allocate its security resources using a risk management approach. 9 This includes assessments of threat (the likelihood of terrorist activity against an asset), vulnerability (the asset s weaknesses), and criticality (the relative importance of the asset). Shortly after taking over as head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in early 2005, Michael Chertoff emphasized the use of a risk-management strategy for the department. 10 Although this approach may be best, implementation will not be easy because each element is difficult to quantify. 7 These proportions are in terms of twenty-foot equivalent container units (TEUs), the standard measure of container traffic (American Association of Port Authorities, 2005). 8 U.S. Department of Transportation (2004). 9 Decker (2001). 10 Chertoff (2005a, 2005b). 5

30 The second broad area, discussed in Chapters 4, 5, and 6, covers best practices in key areas of port security. These include the question of how to seal the container supply chain, how to get the most out of billions of dollars worth of technology development, and how to prepare for emergency response in the case of a terrorist incident at a port. The third broad area, discussed in Chapters 7 and 8, assesses the government response to the challenges raised in the economics and best practices chapters. How well do government programs respond to the key challenges of port security? How can these programs be improved? The final chapter in this study explores an issue that has stumped government and business since the beginning of new efforts at port security: raising the finances to pay for initiatives, staff, and programs that policymakers view as necessary to an effective port security venture. Summary of Main Findings The Economic Effects of a Terrorist Attack on a Port The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are jurisdictionally separate but share San Pedro Bay and effectively serve as one giant port complex (see the port map, p. xxiii). Combined, the complex is the largest port by value in the United States and the fifth-largest container port in the world. If terrorists wanted to wreak havoc on the U.S. economy, the Los Angeles Long Beach complex would certainly be a prime target for attack. In 2004, the complex processed $243 billion worth of traded goods, just over 10 percent of all U.S. trade, 25 percent of all waterborne trade, or an amount equal to about 2 percent of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP). Because imports constitute the vast majority of this trade, and because these imports are often used as inputs to other products, a terrorist attack on these ports could disrupt the U.S. economy. Opinions on the extent of disruption differ significantly, however. In Chapter 2, Edward E. Leamer and Christopher Thornberg argue that the actual costs of an attack on the Los Angeles Long Beach port complex may not be as high as many fear. For example, if a port is closed, many shippers will reroute their shipments through other ports. In addition, displaced workers will seek alternative employment. As a 6