NY Fed – Liberty Street Economics – Jason Bram and Joelle Scally – “The 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center left a deep scar on New York City and the nation, most particularly in terms of the human toll. In addition to the lives lost and widespread health problems suffered by many others—in particular by first responders and recovery workers—the destruction of billions of dollars’ worth of property and infrastructure led to severe disruptions to the local economy. Nowhere were these disruptions more severe and long-lasting than in the neighborhoods closest to Ground Zero.  Looking back fifteen years, it seems abundantly clear that although the city’s economy was indeed thrown off its growth track for a while, it eventually rebounded strongly, as has been noted in many studies. In 2002, we assessed both the short-term economic effect and the likely longer-term effect of the attack. Our follow-up studies in 2003 and 2006 reassessed the economic effect, based on more complete data. Outside studies have examined in more detail the ramifications for Lower Manhattan and Chinatown. In this post, we review a few metrics pertaining to Lower Manhattan, which was most severely affected in the immediate aftermath of the attack. For at least a year following 9/11, New York City employment was depressed, particularly in areas close to Ground Zero. Various studies show there was a disproportionate impact upon areas of Manhattan south of 14th Street—especially south of Canal Street, which includes most of Chinatown. And many of those areas were slow to recover. But recover they did—in terms of not only population but also employment, real estate values, and other metrics. To illustrate just how resilient disaster-stricken economies can be, we will focus on population and employment. Let’s first briefly review the performance of New York City as a whole…”