September 11th Terriorist Attacks

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Twelve years ago, the USA was more concerned with summer vacation than terrorist attacks. The attacks that took place on September 11, 2001 are considered to be the deadliest acts of terrorism on U.S. soil. Even though the attacks took place in only three states, they caused an outcry amongst Americans all over the nation. Data showed that gross domestic product (GDP) from the first two quarters of 2011 both contracted and so it was initially thought the gross GDP growth would decrease noticeably after the attacks. Data that was published in October 2001 showed that GDP had contracted during the 3rd quarter. This led to the assertion that “The terrorist attacks pushed a weak economy over the edge into an outright recession.” This claim was soon disproven after data revisions for GDP were released in 2002 displaying a positive growth (annual rate of 2.7%) beginning in the 4th quarter of 2001. At the time, because of the attacks, it would have made sense for GDP growth to decrease and so this claim seemed plausible. But after data revision, whatever effects the attacks may have had on the economy, they did not drive “a weak economy over the edge into outright recession.” Although the attacks on 9/11 did not have that substantial of an effect on the economy as most people think, they did leave wounds in the economy that have been trying to heal themselves ever since. The fiscal-monetary response after the attacks were effective in calming down anxious citizens. National productivity unfortunately took a sharp turn and decreased in comparison to the year before but rose in the year after. Oil prices took a sharp increase as supplies dissipated but a significantly decline in prices followed soon after chaos had appeased. The value of ... ... middle of paper ... ...ed confidence in the banking system. Banks borrowed extensively from the Federal Reserve’s discount window to carry uncleared payments. Prominent banks in affected areas were not that deeply affected because most of them keep their assets and liabilities in other locations and have back-up record keeping. Some foreign banks had their U.S. activities suspended, but did not appear suffer major losses. Normal operations resumed within a week after the attacks. Despite the heart-wrenching, atrocious attacks on the nation’s prime financial center during an economic recession, the economy showed resilience. This can be attributed to the fact that our economy is one of the strongest in the world, robust enough to take on virtually any attack. The course of events following 9/11 suggest that policymakers are already adroit at reacting to crises on the macroeconomic level.

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