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Bedbugs Invade, A Sign of Infestations to Come?
Latest News from Our Friends at The Socionomics Institute
GAINESVILLE, Ga. / August 24, 2010 -- First there was SARS, then Swine Flu; now bedbugs are crowding West Nile Virus and salmonella eggs out of the headlines. The twilight bloodsuckers are slurping their way through homes, movie theatres, retail stores and office buildings. The resurgence verges on an epidemic, leaving everyone itchy, stressed and nervous. In a report released by the Socionomics Institute, researchers found strong correlations between falling stock prices and epidemics, both of which they say are brought about by a trend toward negative social mood. With financial markets in decline, Alan Hall, a leading researcher at the Georgia-based think tank, says bedbugs are just the beginning, "The list of epidemics in the news quietly continues to grow. Chronic kidney disease, Alzheimers, obesity, sexually-transmitted diseases, heart disease, meningitis, diabetes, cholera, Lyme disease and measles are all described by doctors as current epidemics." As mood grows fearful, stress rises and stocks plunge, the risk of disease increases. Hall says, "It's widely believed that epidemics make people fearful...but the data show that fearful people are more susceptible to epidemics." The chart below is of inflation-adjusted U.S. stock prices dating from 1888. The bear market periods are shaded and the three periods of major U.S. epidemics are marked with arrows.
Note to media: For copies of the study or to arrange an interview with Alan Hall of the Socionomics Institute, contact Alexandra Lienhard, 770-536-0309.
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The Socionomics Institute, based in Gainesville, Ga., studies social mood and its role in driving cultural trends. The Institute’s analysis is published in the monthly research review, The Socionomist. Click here to access more research and forecasts from our friends at The Socionomics Institute.
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