Terrorist attacks, like natural disasters, are horrific wherever they occur. But when it happens closer to home, as with last week's Paris attacks, it's only human to feel the loss and the pain, and the fear of your fellows more keenly. That's one reason why the Paris attacks have had such a huge impact in the West at a time when the number of deaths globally from terrorism has been soaring in countries like Nigeria and Syria. But beyond that, do the Paris attacks have any more significance for the economy and for markets than, say, the Madrid bombings in 2004 did? Or the London bombings of July 2005?
I look at the issue in our cover story this week, but the short answer is that, while markets usually treat terror attacks in a similar way to natural disasters a brief spasm of fear and uncertainty, before a return to business as usual I don't think it'll be quite the same this time. That's not because of the nature of this attack itself, awful as it was it's more because of its timing, and the knock-on impact it has in highlighting the deep structural problems that are already putting Europe's governance under incredible pressure.
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