In the after-math of the tragic attacks on the world trade centre on September 11th consumer spending and consumer confidence have both plummeted into the sea of economic uncertainty that is flooding the United States currently. Consumer confidence is directly correlated to consumer spending, and consumer spending is the foundation for many capitalist economies. In order to further understand the effects of the attacks on consumer confidence it is imperative to first comprehend what is meant by the term consumer confidence. Since confidence is a feeling rather than an action, it is quite hard to give it a quantitative measure. In most industrial countries, confidence is measured through surveys about personal financial outlooks of the citizens. Questions about job security, prospects for promotions, job bonuses and company outlook are taken into consideration when calculating consumer confidence.

Low consumer confidence occurs when people are insecure about their career outlook...