Putting the Bite On the Economy

Australia's recent spate of shark attacks has me even more confused than I am normally. You see. according to George Burgess the director of the International Shark Attack File based at the University of Florida, shark attacks dropped in the U.S. in 2008 as the recession kicked in. Burgess pointed to fewer people holidaying at the beach for economic reasons. The U.S. accounts for two-thirds of shark attacks world-wide so their dip saw shark attacks fall to their lowest level in five years. Now contrary to U.S. experience, Australia has experienced three shark attacks in 18 days. Is Australia less severely impacted by the recession than the U.S? Is our economy more resilient than the U.S.? Or is this yet another case of causality gone astray in search of a headline? More likely, perhaps shark attacks have nothing to do with economics and everything to do with the distribution of surfer dudes, the banning of commercial fishing in Sydney Harbour, climate and lifestyles!   http://news.ufl.edu/2009/02/19/shark-attacks/   Image: George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File, University of Florida