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On the plus side, the recovery of Britons in adversity was universally reported to be phenomenally quick, at least as far as non-military enterprises were concerned. Large London department stores like Bourne & Hollingsworth and Peter Robinson opened twelve hours after being bombed, with piles of debris covered over in some cases by flags. Damaged goods went on sale. One punning Londoner cracked: "It's bomb marché in Oxford Street this week."
Economist John Maynard Keynes said that destruction had not exceeded potential rate of construction. "We have," he added, "the capacity to replace what has been lost by something much better." One businessman cabled his U. S. associates: "Lots of our buildings were dirty anyway."
Possibly a good estimate of damage to British industry in one month is 10%. Nothing positive had developed last week to prove that the Germans could not continue bombing London in about the same way for six months, or more.