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A group of over 200 businessmen and executives in the Washington, D.C., area were serveyed recently regarding their concerns over y2k. Most of them were very concerned.
This appeared in the Los Angeles TIMES (April 23).
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How scary is the Year 2000 problem? Serious enough to cause the stock market to lose as much as 20 percent of its value with a serious economic setback. That’s according to an e-mail survey of 229 members of the "Washington D.C. Year 2000 Group" when asked what the impact of the Year 2000 problem would be on the U.S. economy. Members include government, corporate and military executives. Fannie Mae executive Bruce Webster heads up the group, which regularly meets in Washington to discuss the 2K problem. . . .
Other results include:
84% believe that it will trigger at least a 20%+ drop in the stock market -- over 1800 points in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, given its current levels-and some business bankruptcies.
Two-thirds (66%) believe that it will cause at least an economic slowdown, a rise in unemployment, and some isolated social incidents.
Over half (56%) believe that it will at the least result in a mild recession, isolated infrastructure and supply problems, and some runs on banks.
One-third (34%) believe that it will at the least result in a strong recession, local social disruptions, and many business bankruptcies.
One-fourth (26%) believe that in additional to all the above, the Y2K problem will at least result in political crises within the United States, regional supply and infrastructure disruptions, and regional social disruptions.
One-tenth (10%) believe at least that the United States will suffer another depression (or worse), that financial markets will collapse, that the national infrastructure will be crippled, and that martial law will be declared in some local areas.
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