Howard Pyle, The Burning of Jamestown, an early-twentieth-century illustration, not an eyewitness view. Public domain.
A recession was already underway when the September 11 attacks shut markets, planes, and insurers.
If money is tight, travel, hotels, and downtown work can vanish in a week.
If you are in the middle, a delayed flight is the small version of an economy that just stopped.
If you have savings, insurance stocks and airline stocks are the first receipts.
The 2001 recession began in March, before the attacks, according to the national dating committee.
After September 11 the stock market stayed closed until September 17, and airlines and insurers took the direct hit.
A soft economy became a frightened one.
Source: National Bureau of Economic Research, March to November 2001; New York Stock Exchange closure, September 11 to September 17, 2001.