We provide  the first analysis of how the global spread of the novel coronavirus affects contemporaneous economic sentiment. First, we collect a global dataset on internet searches indicative of economic anxieties. We find that the arrival of coronavirus in a country led to a substantial increase in such internet searches of up to 58 percent. Second, leveraging two US representative survey experiments conducted in early and mid-March 2020 , we document a rapid surge in economic anxieties after the arrival of the coronavirus in the US. Third, to understand how information about the coronavirus affects these anxieties, we measure perceptions about the coronavirus. We find substantial heterogeneity in participants' beliefs about the mortality from and contagiousness of the virus. Fourth, experimentally providing participants with information about mortality and contagiousness causally affects participants' worries regarding the aggregate economy and their personal economic situation . Finally, we document that participants' subjective mental models understate the non-linear nature of disease spread, and that these mental models shape the extent of economic worries. These results underscore the importance of public education about the virus for successful containment as well as the need for timely measures that decrease economic hardship and anxietyduring a major global pandemic .
We provide one of the first systematic assessments of the development and determinants of economic anxiety at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Using a global dataset on internet searches and two representative surveys from the US , we document a substantial increase in economic anxiety during and after the arrival of the coronavirus . We also document a large dispersion in beliefs about the pandemic risk factors of the coronavirus, and demonstrate that these beliefs causally affect individuals' economic anxieties . Finally, we show that individuals' mental models of infectious disease spread understate non-linear growth and shape the extent of economic anxiety .
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one of the first systematic assessments of
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first analysis of how the global spread of the novel coronavirus affects contemporaneous economic sentiment. First, we collect
development and determinants of economic anxiety at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Using
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indicative of economic anxieties. We find that the arrival of coronavirus in a country led to a substantial increase in such internet searches of up to 58 percent. Second, leveraging two US representative survey experiments conducted in early and mid-March 2020
and two representative surveys from the US
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rapid surge in economic anxieties
substantial increase in economic anxiety during and
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in the US. Third, to understand how information about the coronavirus affects these anxieties, we measure perceptions about the coronavirus. We find substantial heterogeneity in participants'
. We also document a large dispersion in
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mortality from and contagiousness of the virus. Fourth, experimentally providing participants with information about mortality and contagiousness causally affects participants' worries regarding the aggregate economy and their personal economic situation
pandemic risk factors of the coronavirus, and demonstrate that these beliefs causally affect individuals' economic anxieties
R
document that participants' subjective mental models understate the
show that individuals' mental models of infectious disease spread understate
R
nature of disease spread, and that these mental models
growth and
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worries. These results underscore the importance of public education about the virus for successful containment as well as the need for timely measures that decrease economic hardship and anxietyduring a major global pandemic
anxiety