Five years ago this morning, two planes slammed into the World Trade Center, killing nearly 3,000 innocent people and forever changing the course of history. Your editor had been at WTC the day before, attending the first of a two-day economics conference. On September 11, 2001, thanks to an early morning dentist appointment, I was running late. Standing on a railroad platform, awaiting the next train into the city, I heard the news of the first plane. The train never came, I never made it to New York and I’ll never forget what happened next.
Today, as we look back and mourn, we can only wonder what the next five years will bring. Much has changed over the past 60 months, and no doubt much will change in the next 60. But this much, at least, is clear: the United States survived, even thrived.
To be sure, America faces more than a few economic challenges. So what else is new? And while we’re cautious and increasingly prudent in deploying capital, we’re still optimistic that enlightened investors can turn a tidy profit in the long run.
That optimism springs largely from the belief that the United States will prevail. For all the debate about the wisdom of the country’s current policies, CS harbors an unshakable belief that a triumphant America will ultimately benefit all rational-thinking people who cherish liberty. Alas, getting from here to there will be neither easy nor swift. Nothing worth achieving ever is.