Coronavirus fears increase economic anxieties

A new research has found that the rapid and global spread of the new Coronavirus within just a few months is threatening to infect the global economy. While the protection of life and the slowing down of the spread of the disease has utmost priority, policy makers need to also very quickly consider moves to contain the economic fallout.

In their new paper “Perceptions of Coronavirus Mortality and Contagiousness Weaken Economic Sentiment”, a team of academics has found that the arrival of the new Coronavirus in a country is associated with a sharp increase in Google searches indicative of anxieties and economic fears. Using day-to-day Google search activity around 190 countries the authors see notable and sharp increases in Google search activity around the term recession, along with topics related to survivalism and conspiracy theories. After the arrival of the first Corona case in a country, this type of search activity increases sharply by between 20-50% relative to the period before Corona arrived. The researchers opine that a natural question to governments, and decision makers across the globe is how the economic fallout from the new Coronavirus can be contained.