I am very familiar with the general attitudes of economists regarding technology, having earned a masters degree, with honors, in economics and statistics and a doctorate in managerial economics, built on a first-class honors electrical engineering undergraduate degree. Some economists, such as econometricians, do have statistical training and some have a rudimentary understanding of computer technology. I doubt that all but a very few also have a real grasp of cybersecurity. Scott Borg is one of the few. He is director and chief economist of the U.S. Cyber Consequences Unit, for which I am the research director for financial services.
So now we have the powerful Dr. Summers downplaying the importance of protecting the Nation’s critical infrastructure from cyber attacks. He is obviously going to lend support to those initiatives upon which he is being personally evaluated. But mark my words, however bad the economic issues that he is now facing may be, they would pale in comparison to a catastrophic cyber attack on the country’s critical infrastructure. And what is particularly frustrating is that there may still be an opportunity to forestall such a catastrophe, if political maneuvers don’t block progress on the cyber front
I sincerely hope, for all our sakes, that Dr. Summers has the opportunity to bask in the glory of a successful economic rescue. At the same time, I pray that the U.S. will not be the victim of avoidable catastrophic cyber attacks, which could undo much of the good that the Obama Administration’s stimulus plan will hopefully have brought about.
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