25 Years After 9/11: US Dominance, China’s Rise and India’s Ascent; Timeline Of September 11 Attacks

The infamous 9/11 attacks complete 25 years of their history that is filled with sorrow, loss, and a reminder to counter terrorism. The date, September 11, 2001, is nailed into US history like permanent ink. A day that is remembered for being one of the deadliest and worst terrorist attacks in human history. While the day brought the world's largest economy to its knees as thousands suffered, the impact, however, was global. The world that watched, the Twin Towers, succumbed to two airplanes in its belly, also shattered both figuratively and economically. Time skip to 25 years later: how has the world moved beyond 9/11?

9/11 Attacks Timeline: The Dark Day

On September 11, 2001, the city of New York wakes up as usual, unprepared and unaware of the upcoming mayhem. It started before the sun had properly awakened the world's largest economy.

Between 5:45 am to 8.42 am of September 11, 2001, 19 hijackers successfully boarded four American airlines: American Airlines Flight 11, United Airlines Flight 175, American Airlines Flight 77, and United Airlines Flight 93, from Maine, Boston, Dulles, and Newark. Their goal was to attack sky-high buildings and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. 2 planes crashed into the Twin Towers of New York. One dived into the Pentagon, and the last one crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, due to the bravery of the passengers, crews, and pilots.

The mayhem was gruesome and gory as firefighters, authorities, air forces, armies, and the government fought to save lives. It would not go without saying that every American felt like a soldier that day. However, the damage was too brutal to bear.

The attacks of 9/11 led to a death toll of 2,996 people, including 19 hijackers who committed murder-suicide and 2,977 victims. Thousands more were injured, and many victims who survived faced long-term health issues.

An extreme terrorist group, Al-Qaeda, under Osama Bin Laden, a notorious terrorist, had claimed responsibility for the 9/11 attacks. Over a decade later, the US Army hunted and finally killed Osama from his hiding place in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on May 2, 2011.

9/11 Impact On Global Economy

It was not just the USA that suffered the lethal brunt of the 9/11 attacks; globally, markets and the economy had taken a hit as well.

You see, the 9/11 tragedy appeared at a time when the global economy was already facing the dot-com recession. This was just another nail in the coffin.

Global Stock Market

The global market entered into a frenzy. The New York Stock Exchange Building, as well as nearly all banks and financial institutions on Wall Street and in many cities across the country, were evacuated. Even the London Stock Exchange and other stock exchanges around the world were also closed down and evacuated in case of follow-up terrorist attacks. NYSE was shut for nearly a week.

This marked the third time in NYSE's history that it experienced a prolonged closure. The first time was World War 1, and the second was in March 1933 due to the Great Depression. Trading in bond yields and forex had also been paused.

When global markets opened on September 12, 2001, the Spanish stock market crashed 5%, Germany's exchange nosedived 8.5%, and the London Stock Exchange plunged 6%. Other markets in Latin America also declined, with over a 9% drop in Brazil, over a 5% decline in Argentina, and a nearly 6% crash in Mexico before trading was halted.

Gold, Oil, Gas Prices & Dollar

Spot gold climbed on the 9/11 attack by $287 to $215.50 per ounce.

Crude oil prices spiked, and so did gasoline prices for almost one week since the 9/11 attack.

US dollar weakened against currencies like Euro, British pound, and Japanese yen.

Insurance Sector

Insurance losses due to 9/11 were more than one and a half times greater than what was previously the largest disaster (Hurricane Andrew) in terms of losses. The losses included business interruption ($11.0 billion), property ($9.6 billion), liability ($7.5 billion), workers' compensation ($1.8 billion), and others ($2.5 billion), as per Wikipedia.

Firms like Berkshire Hathaway, Lloyd's, Swiss Re, and Munich Re reportedly witnessed over $2 billion losses each. Their shares also dropped steeply.

Airlines and aviation

Before insurance, the aviation industry came to a standstill. Because the attacks were carried out by airplanes, the US government had to close every airport on D-Day and ask all the planes in the air to land to their nearest airport. This was an attempt to identify the hijacked planes once the air traffic was clear.

Shares of airlines and airplane makers such as Boeing crashed. Midway Airlines came to the verge of bankruptcy, Swissair struggled to meet its debt obligation and was later grounded on October 2, 2001, followed by liquidation.

Many airlines carried out mass layoffs to reduce costs. The US federal government declared a financial assistance package of $10 billion in loan guarantees and $5 billion for short-term assistance.

But the longer-term impact continued as many airlines consolidated or merged. America West acquired US Airways in 2005, Delta merged with Northwest in 2008, United combined with Continental in 2010, and Concorde chose retirement.

Tourism Sector

Tourism plummeted sharply in New York out of fear of future terrorist attacks. The sector, which employed 280,000 people and generated $25 billion annually at that time, struggled heavily.

Hotel occupancy dropped below 40%, and thousands of employees were laid off.

Suzanne Thompson, Professor of Psychology at Pomona College, conducted interviews with 501 people who were not direct victims of 9/11. Most of them reported fear of flying and distress at the event.

"Most participants felt more distress (65 percent) and a stronger fear of flying (55 percent) immediately after the event than they did before the attacks," her study said.

Security Sector

That day also came as a hard reality check for the USA that their security system could not detect or stop 19 hijackers. So the US government increased its budget allocation for improving the security system, especially in the areas of homeland security, national defence, and the private sector.

Job Losses

Last but not least, the city of New York held the remanence of lost souls, crumbled infrastructure, a dire economy, and lakhs of job loss.

As per reports, at least 430,000 jobs were lost, and there were $2.8 billion in lost wages over the three months following the 9/11 attacks. Meanwhile, New York City's GDP was estimated to have declined by $30.3 billion over the last three months of 2001 and all of 2002.

25-Years Later Of 9/11 Attacks

Here's what we know!

America got much richer.

China got richer much faster.

US is still dominant.

China emerges as an enormous challenger.

And India is rapidly rising.

The U.S. economy almost tripled in nominal size, and American companies became extraordinarily valuable.

What happened to Twin Towers?

The Twin Towers themselves were not rebuilt. Their exact footprints are now the 9/11 Memorial, consisting of two enormous reflecting pools with the names of the victims around them.

A new complex was built around the memorial. The most prominent building is One World Trade Center, which stands 1,776 feet tall and opened to tenants in 2014. There are also other new towers, the Oculus transportation hub, the 9/11 Memorial Museum, and the Perelman Performing Arts Center.