Fear can stimulate the economy. For instance, let’s just say that robbery is on the rise in your neighborhood. What would you do? Many people would buy things to help protect themselves and their belongings. Some would move. Either way, you are spending more money than you would be otherwise. If you hear that a hurricane is on it’s way…you go buy things. If you hear that a product is going to be in short supply and the price will likely be rising…you might go and stock up. If you hear that an enemy is threatening to attack, you might build a bomb shelter, purchase arms, ammunition, and other supplies. If you hear that the climate is being impacted by the use of fossil fuels, you might go out and buy a green car or a bicycle. Any time cataclysm is proclaimed, it likely stimulates the economy.
I’ve also heard that war stimulates the economy. Obviously, when a country wages war it uses more war related things. That means production has to be increased. That means more people are employed. That means more people have money to buy things.
The paranoid part of this thought is that someone might use fear just to stimulate the economy. A healthy (I’m not sure healthy is really the right word) economy can mean security for the politicians that are in power, as well as for businesses in general.
