The scene at the Twin Towers this morning likely rivaled the lowest level of Hades in terms of horror. TV is reporting that people were calm in going down the stairs, i hope so.
As for the records, i've talkedc with several financial institutions today. Here is what i've discerned: Since the first bombing of the WTC, all companies with HQ there have maintained backup records at remote locations. these are backed up daily, if not in real time. So, order will be able to be restored, at least in that area.
If I may diverge from the personal tragedy for a minute, and not be viewed as insensitive, and look at the macro-economic effects of this:
1. Real Estate in NY - if there was an glut of office space in NY or that area, well, we just lost 220 stories of prime real estate.
2. Construction: consider the amount of employment to 1. remove debris, then 2, rebuild, whatever is going to be rebuilt
3. Computing equipment, fiberoptic lines, telco equipment, etc. all gone. assuming that the capacity will be replaced, this could be a boom for these industries.
on the downside, there will be a significant slowdown in the recovery of the data. many key people were lost.
there is the possibility that this event could either lead to a market crash or market recovery. when the US markets re-open, i expect a huge sell-off. hopefully, it will be brief and we will see some stabilization. Overseas markets tonight will tell us something.
any way you cut it, this is a horrible day. i've talked to my kids, ranging from 18 to 25. one is a freshman in college. i was a freshman in college when John Kennedy was killed. I tell my kids, We will be ok. larry |
