In the frantic days after 9/11, Lewis B. Freeman was sure of one thing: His world was about to get a lot smaller.
Freeman, a forensic accountant in South Florida, was in a rental car returning from a San Francisco business trip. With all flights grounded, it was the easiest way to get home.
At that moment, the routine of frequent flying for business appeared outdated. Within days, Freeman had convinced several clients that meeting by videoconference was the way to go in a world where air travel suddenly seemed a life-or-death proposition.
His goal was to cut his business travel 60% to 70%.
It didn't happen, at least not the way Freeman anticipated.
"I guess it was like a lot of things in life that we thought were going to change, and it did -- from September to January," he recalled.
After that, it was back to the airport.
"I think in the last five years, I've done only two videoconferences," Freeman said recently. "I'm spending as much time on planes as before 9/11."
The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks had a potent effect on American business. Tighter security has become a way of life for millions of employees. Redundant supply chains and backup data systems are in wider use. Stock market swings tied to acts of terrorism and security alerts are accepted risks.
In particular, the attacks devastated the travel industry.
Increased security costs and a slide in passenger volume helped drive four of the biggest U.S. airlines into bankruptcy protection. Hotels and tourist attractions that depend on foreign visitors were especially hard hit.
But other predictions didn't come to pass, or came and went faster than pundits expected -- in part because there were no attacks in the immediate aftermath of the assaults on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
For instance, some experts said the attacks would throttle consumer spending and pitch the U.S. economy into recession.
The economy, in fact, was already shrinking and would be back on the path to growth within a few months of the attacks.
"Many analysts totally over-reacted to the events of 9/11 and predicted catastrophe and terrible long-term economic consequences," said UCLA economics professor Edward Leamer, who predicted on the day of the attacks that the U.S. economy would rebound from the shock.
As it happened, car sales hit a record in November 2001, home sales continued to grow and the stock market rebounded from its post-9/11 plunge.
