Nobody doubts that people’s livelihoods were severely impacted by the BP disaster.  The immediate burden was shouldered by those in close proximity to the Gulf Shores, where the mess began to accumulate, necessitating the shutdown of numerous businesses.  In its wake, the BP oil spill left thousands upon thousands of people without jobs, as businesses old and new alike began to shutter its operations.

The task of determining how best to compensate the victims falls on the shoulders of Kenneth Feinberg, and he has the unenviable task of trying to determine a fair compensation model for the victims.  But if the BP disaster showed us anything, it is that our economy is complex and endlessly intertwined.  Because of the business shutdowns in the Gulf Shores, other businesses thousands of miles away were also impacted.  Are they also victims?  Would they need compensation?

This idea of a geographic proximity model to determine compensation qualification is being examined, and a short report on it is discussed at relevantandtimely.com.  In that article, it is apparent that documents from the BP assessment collectively point to better compensation the closer one is to the actual disaster.  Thus, the further one is from the spill, the less likely one is to receive compensation.