Economic impact of WTC attacks, Anthropology, College Term Papers.com


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Economic impact of WTC attacks

Economic impact of WTC attacks Terrorism is an increasing global threat that was illustrated by the recent attacks on the World Trade Center buildings in New York. It was a highly organized attack and investigations have shown that besides the United States, planning also took place in different countries of Europe and Asia. These attacks are set to affect far more people than the American government it was intended to harm. Over five thousand people are believed to have died as a direct result of the attacks and many more deaths are expected due to the various consequences of this tragedy. In this essay I shall attempt to cover the far-reaching consequences of this terrorist attack, focusing mainly on the cultural, social and economic aspects. I shall begin by covering the economic consequences that in my opinion far outweigh any of the others. In the wake of the September 11 attacks close to 250,000 job cuts have been announced, and a nine-year record high of unemployment claims have been reported in America. This number could have been even higher had it not been for the luxury of variable pay . By some estimates cuts in variable pay saved some 1.4 million jobs , that is 1 percent of the working population of America. Another study has found that these cutbacks will result in as much as a $30 billion drop in income for the first quarter of 2002 . This in turn will likely lead to a reduction in consumer spending that would have an adverse effect on the American economy. According to the Commerce Department retail sales fell 2.4 percent in September, much to the shock of Economists who did not expect a drop of this magnitude. Equally surprising to them is the apparent change in consumer attitude in October, which has shown an increased willingness to spend money and has reduced pressure on the economy. Aside from the above-mentioned costs of the attacks there is also the cost of renovating the damaged areas of the pentagon which is estimated at between $700 and $800 million. The collapse of the World Trade Center towers caused damage to surrounding buildings and the developer who leases the site has plans to rebuild the towers which will be an extremely expensive endeavor. The government of the United States has also promised compensation for the victims and their families in return for not suing the Federal government or the airlines. Some people have already chosen not to take the deal and are instead suing the airlines, citing inadequate security for not being able to stop the hijacking of the planes. The global airline industry has been hardest hit by the terrorist attacks, international carriers estimate a loss of $7.5 billion while U.S. airlines estimate another $5 billion . The decrease in international flight traffic coupled with increased insurance and security costs are set to make losses come close if not exceed these figures. With the U.S. retaliatory strikes on Afghanistan anti-American sentiment has risen in many Muslim countries leading various Western governments to issue warnings to its citizens in the Middle East and South East Asia. The drop in tourism has also been significant, especially in Europe where Americans make up a third of all tourists. With France and Spain being the top two tourist destinations in the world (1 and 2 respectively), tourism in some areas of Europe had dropped by over 30 percent. The World Bank released a report following the attacks estimating as many as 10 million people could fall below the poverty line next year. The report stated that the September 11 attacks could lead to a lower economic growth in developing countries that would make fighting childhood diseases and malnutrition difficult and may result in the deaths of up to 40,000 children. This brings me to my next topic the Social and Cultural impacts of the attacks. One of the most tragic consequences of the terrorist attacks has to be the racist sentiment now felt by a lot of Americans towards Muslims, Arabs and anyone who resembles them. The people of these communities have complained of various forms of harassment as well as physical attacks and acts of vandalism on their properties and religious institutions. In one of the severest cases a Sikh man was killed because he was thought to be a Muslim because of his turban and long beard. Other reported incidents include a fire bombing of a mosque in Texas, an attempted murder of a Pakistani woman in a shopping center parking lot and hate crimes towards international students studying in various Universities in the United Kingdom and America. On the flip side, the attacks on America originally garnered a lot of sympathy from traditional anti-American societies most of which has since been lost due to the air strikes against Afghanistan. The image of Islam on the western world has also been destroyed with many people assuming all Muslims to be terrorists and of following the same beliefs as those terrorists. Although the majority of people living in multi-cultural societies around the world have banded together following the attacks, a minority of people in these societies have tried their best to separate other cultures from theirs. Aside from the detrimental effect this has had on the image of Islam and Muslims their have been other serious consequences on the global community. In the western world there has been a feeling of infringement on personal freedom with the increased monitoring of communications by the government. In America congress has been trying to pass a bill giving the government more power to monitor e-mails and telephone conversations. In campuses across the United States there has been various cases of what college staff believe to be a curbing of free speech. College faculty and staff who express opinions on the terrorist attacks and U.S. bombardment of Afghanistan are facing rebuke in public and private, suspension and investigation. At least two professors were asked to leave their schools as a security measure. An example of this situation is the case of University of California at Los Angeles library assistant Jonnie Hargis who was suspended without pay for five days after he criticized U.S. support for Israel in an e-mail sent on the school's computers. He was responding to a co-worker's mass e-mailing that praised America. The day he was penalized, the staff was also told library policy forbids using its e-mail to send unsolicited political or patriotic messages. Johnnie Hargis who had been working in the library for 22 years said he had never heard of the policy and that he was the only one punished. In conclusion, although a tragic event, the overreaction of many people has only worsened the situation. In a time when people should join together to fight ignorance and be more understanding of different cultures a handful of people are only making things worse by their warped sense of justice. It is the year 2001, anti-Muslim sentiment in the west and anti-American sentiment in the Muslim world should not be tolerated if we are to be a true global community. Bibliography: Bibliography Daniel Eisenberg; Paying To Keep Your Job; Time magazine; October 15, 2001; Vol. 158 No. 17. Geoff Hiscock; World Bank warns of poverty, child deaths; www.cnn.com; October 2, 2001. Federal deal ensures victims' compensation; www.cnn.com; September 24, 2001. Lisa Barron; Global airlines losses could top $10 billion; www.cnn.com; October 9, 2001. This research paper also includes some information from various other articles at CNN.com that although helpful were not significant in the composition of this assignment.

Word Count: 1181