International Business and Global Terrorism

Just a few months before the horrific terrorist acts of September 11, 2001, the world economy began to witness general stagnation. In fact, many countries such as the United States, Japan, and Argentina were either clearly in a recession or experiencing sluggish performance. Both layoffs and cutbacks in corporate spending were widespread. The New York Times (See Kahn & Andrews, 2001) stated, “The world economy, which grew at a raging pace just last year, has slowed to a crawl as the United States, Europe, Japan, and some major developing countries undergo a rare simultaneous slump. The latest economic statistics from around the globe show that many regional economic powers … have become economically stagnant, defying expectations that growth in other countries would help compensate for the slowdown in the United States.” Many governments were taking steps to revitalize their economies and designed strategies to fuel economic growth. The terrorist acts of September 11, 2001, however, have greatly reduced expectations for a near term solution to the world's economic problems.