In addition to the obvious, dreadful degree of damage and loss of life that is occurring due to Hurricane Katrina, the economic ripple effect is going to take people by surprise. I'm hearing worrisome stories about the nation's fuel supply, for one.

This is going to reverberate throughout the economy. Scary. Of course the first thought I had was about the cost of filling up our own gas tanks, but it's really so much larger than that. We are soooo fuel dependent in this country, and it is going to affect the cost and the price of everything.