I apply the Beveridge-Nelson business cycle decomposition method to the time series of per capita murder of Michigan State (1933-2005). Separating out “permanent” from “cyclical” murder, I hypothesize that the cyclical part does not coincide with documented waves of organized crime, internal tensions, crime legislation, social, and political unrest, and with the periodic terrorist attacks to the U.S. The estimated cyclical component of murder shows that terrorist attacks against the U.S. have not affected Michigan, presenting this State, along with Arkansas as immune to the suffering of the nation, and to the occurrence of attacks. The State appears as having a growing index of permanent murder. This paper belongs to the series of papers helping the U.S, and Homeland Security identify the closeness of terrorist attacks, and constructs the attacks index for Michigan. Other indices constructed include the Index for the U.S., New York State, New York City, Arizona, Massachusetts, California, Washington, Ohio, Philadelphia City, Arkansas, Missouri, Florida, and Oklahoma. These indices must be used as dependent variables in structural models for terrorist attacks and in models assessing the effects of terrorism over the U.S. economy.
