# Economic Impact of Active Serial Killers **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 24, 2013, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/economic-impact-of-active-serial-killers/669588 "2013-09-24T17:04:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/economic-impact-of-active-serial-killers/669588/21 "2013-09-25T07:54:00Z")
> [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](#): > > Thinking a bit more about what you said though, is it possible there is a net benefit > > You buy a gun you need a certificate of some sort, maybe go to the range, definitely need ammo. If you buy a dog, you need dog food and other supplies. > > Alarm companies would see a spike, home security devices would likely see increased sales. > > Is it possible that a city should encourage a serial killer in order to encourage growthÉ No. Even ignoring the immorality of this choice, you are committing the broken window fallacy. One, the resources spent on countermeasures against the serial killer are resources unavailable for other things. Two, the countermeasures are incapable of negating the negative impact of the serial killer, only diminishing them. Buying countermeasures to protect yourself might be better, economically speaking, than taking your chances with the serial killer, but it will always be worse than not needing to buy the countermeasures in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/economic-impact-of-active-serial-killers/669588/22 "2013-09-25T08:11:13Z")
The Beltway Sniper(s) had a definite adverse impact on restaurants in the DC area. And since John Muhammad targeted a lot of shopping centers with Michael’s Art Supplies (We’ll never know what inspired that particular common thread), I’m guessing they lost some revenue while he was at large. ---
**Author:** ![Alba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea666f/32.png) [@Alba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alba)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/economic-impact-of-active-serial-killers/669588/23 "2013-09-25T11:29:03Z")
> [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](#): > > Will do. > > Thanks to all with ideas about the deFrenchifying of my keyboard. > > It turns out that it has self-rectified. Having done nothing but watch a show for an hour or so it seems that I am back in English land! I can again use ,\>?": YAY!!! > > So, about those serial killers? Next to the notification centre (below right on your screen) there’s an “EN” which is the language setting. Sometimes you can accidentally click on that. Mine was EN and Chinese. Not helpful at all. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/economic-impact-of-active-serial-killers/669588/24 "2013-09-25T13:13:54Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > the resources spent on countermeasures against the serial killer are resources unavailable for other things. This assumes that, for instance, someone buying a gun or security system would have used the money to buy other things, rather than just holding onto it. I can see there could be localized economic damage from a prominent serial killer case, certainly (going back to the Boston Strangler case once more, there was a bad impact on door-to-door salesmen, who had a terrible time getting women to open their doors while the panic was on. I imagine that the Encylopedia Britannica saw its sales plunge in the Boston area.). ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/economic-impact-of-active-serial-killers/669588/25 "2013-09-25T13:52:20Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > And since John Muhammad targeted a lot of shopping centers with Michael’s Art Supplies (We’ll never know what inspired that particular common thread) Well, he was _crafty_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/economic-impact-of-active-serial-killers/669588.md?page=1)