Remember those lost Sept. 11, 2001.

• Author: Schwab, Robert
• Position: Rschwab@cobizmag.com - Brief Article

AND THEN REALIZE IT HAS NOT BEEN SEPT. 11TH THAT HAS brought Colorado's economy to a crawl. Four fear factors, somewhat unrelated to last year's terror attacks, have had a much more significant impact:

QWEST. The fall of the mighty company, heir to U.S. West, and its inclusion among firms brought down by false financial reporting, is big enough to squelch the drive of Colorado's entire high-tech industry.

THE NATIONAL RECESSION. Local economic forecasters said at the beginning of this year that Colorado's economy has never been tied more closely to the nation's, and if business slowed nationally, Colorado's would slow as well. The forecasters weren't wrong.

FIRES. They started in spring, after a relatively slow snow season, and continued to burn even though tourism officials begged the governor to quit telling people the whole state was on fire. Besides putting ashes in our mouths, the fires have generated a...