Well...I think cooler heads prevailed after the 9/11 attacks. Though the human cost was huge the effect on the economy was temporary and more shallow than people thought at the time. Beyond airlines and hotels/tourism I can't think of many industries that were hard hit for an appreciable amount of time.


There is no reason to think the 9/21 level is a true support level. In fact, you'll see on an SP500 chart that it's basically the same support level as the aftermath of the Long Term Capital Management/Russia crisis. Those lows were caused by panic over something a more efficient market would have almost glossed over. I think this time people will be horrified to realize this downturn is due to prospects of a truly weakening economy rather than panic induced by some overhyped catastrophe.