Has the NSA hurt the U.S. economy?

The National Security Agency (NSA) has been questioned over its terrible overreach of violating civil liberties and invading the privacy of citizens, tourists and even public officials, both foreign and domestic. The question that is being asked now is: has the NSA hurt the United States economy? Possibly so.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden is now launching an investigation into the economic effects imposed by the NSA because of its questionable and unconstitutional surveillance methods and programs.

In an interview with Bloomberg News, the NSA critic and Oregon Democrat argued that companies may have lost billions of dollars because foreign customers and investors were scared of putting their money into the U.S. over fears that private firms may work with spy agencies and hand over personal information.

“Nobody has looked at it from an economic standpoint, purely economics, dollars and cents,” stated Wyden. “If a foreign enemy had inflicted the damage on the American economy — these cutting-edge, innovative companies — that the overreaching by the NSA surveillance brigade had done, people would be up in arms all over the United States.”

Technology firms may have in fact lost $35 billion over a three-year period because of foreign clients refusing to park their money into American businesses. Even governments are refusing to enter into agreements with American firms, such as the government of Germany, which announced that it was ending its partnership with Verizon Communications because of NSA spying.

“It certainly will help us begin to sort of think through what we want to do as a country,” Wyden added. “If these NSA surveillance practices are not making us any more secure but are threatening our liberty, and now the Finance Committee has documented how it’s damaging our ability to grow economically, that too, I think will be something of a wake-up call in this debate.”

Germany has become so suspicious of American spying and snooping that they are mulling over a move to converting to typewriters in order to prevent digital leaks to the U.S. Russia has already purchased close to $15,000 worth of typewriters to avoid leaks.