The news media are singularly lacking in any explanation for the recent resurgence of the world economy beyond the improvement in the leading indicators, such as stock market prices and retail sales numbers … “The five psychological factors are confidence, fairness, corruption and bad faith, money illusion and stories … (and) that human interest stories give vitality and emotional resonance to economic views that drive animal spirits …” They use the example of the US TV show, The Apprentice, and how this story spread rapidly all over the world through local remakes during a time of economic expansion, with the substitution of a local tycoon or personality – as for instance in South Africa where this role was filled by Tokyo Sexwale.
They go on to ask: “With such contagion around the world, during the boom, of such a motivational TV story, is there any reason to doubt that the contagion of stories has economic significance, or that there could be worldwide fluctuations in animal spirits?