Nationalize the Airlines!
One week after what is being called the "attack on America" the aftershocks continue to be felt. The far-reaching effects of this recent terrorist attack are sending shockwave not only the through the American but also the world economy. In Monday's trading stocks were down nearly across the board (with the exception of many armaments companies!) with many investors wondering how the attack will affect the bottom line. But no sector was as hard hit by the attack or on Wall Street as the airline industry. American Airlines was down $ 11.70 to $18.00; US Air down $ 6.05 to $5.57 United down $13.32 to $17.50 - losses close to 50 percent for each and every one of the airline stocks. To try and curb the selling frenzy the airlines announced huge layoffs hoping to demonstrate that they were tightening their belts. US Air announced 11,000 layoffs and Continental Airlines announced that 12,000 of their employees would not have a job next week. These layoffs are just a fraction of the 100,000 jobs that Continental's Chief Executive said could be lost in the airline industry alone.