Interesting question - we've gone through three "recessions" that have occurred in the north american economy since first coming to the islands - the cruise boat traffic doesn't seem to be affected as the cruises are "cheap" compared to other kinds of vacations. The bare boat sailors seem to come hell or high water due to their love of sailing and the villa rental market tends not to be affected because bookings occur about 6 months to 1 year ahead which is about the average length of time a recession is at its worst. Prices are flexible for virtually all the kinds of holidays people take on island - once you have invested in an asset offshore, whether it be a home or boat, you've paid the price so it's the return on investment that matters - most people who invest in these kinds of assets (hopefully) have some kind of staying power and don't sell at the drop of the hat. In the long run it's the purchase price that determines if you get a good deal not the sale price.

During the 2007-08 US financial meltdown there were some great deals on power boats especially all down the US eastern seaboard - friends of mine picked up a 60 foot power boat for 25% of cost and brought it back to Toronto but I think that was relatively unusual and probably more to do with an "excessively spendthrift lifestyle" by the previous owner. There is no question that the island boating industry (rentals and marina operators) would like to have a bit more cushion following Irma, but to a large extent they collect fees from individual owners of boats and can lay off some workers to "balance" the books. I think hotels have a bigger problem given the number of workers employed but overall the average financially well off family does well during recessions and there are not too many middle class North American's taking vacations in BVI.

Massive debts at the U.S. government level are troubling in that U.S. currency devaluation is a real possibility especially given the extent of US government borrowing from China and other countries - this would have a real impact on the average US resident's buying power and that too would affect the residents of BVI because they use the US dollar. One of the reasons I keep telling friends in the BVI to increase agricultural production so they are not dependent on imported food.