The Politics of "Attention Economics": Is Focus the New Currency?

We’re no longer grabbing headlines from broadsheets; now it's all 15-second TikToks. In fact, 17% of U.S. adults now say they regularly get their news from TikTok, up from just 3% in 2020. As we skim-swipe and scroll, it’s not just our attention that’s on the line; it’s the currency of power itself.

 

We live in what economists now call the Attention Economy, a field most of us didn’t even realise existed, yet one that quietly shapes almost every interaction we have with the world. The idea goes back to Herbert Simon’s 1971 insight that in an information-rich society, attention—not information— is the real scarcity. Today, that scarcity has become the organising principle of both politics and business. For politicians, the goal is no longer persuasion but focus; for companies, not loyalty but screen time. That’s why modern political campaigns chase virality and emotional spikes over substance. Outrage is simply the most economically rational route to engagement. 

 

And the research behind this trend reveals just how dramatically our attention is being reshaped. Pew Research Centre found strong links between media habits, ideological “bubbles,” and public opinion on political and economic issues. They concluded that algorithms contribute to echo chambers and reduce exposure to diverse viewpoints. Empirical Studies also back this claim. Bail et al. (PNAS, 2018) found that exposure to opposing political views on Twitter didn’t create moderation — it actually intensified polarisation, as engagement reinforced existing tribal attitudes. More recent work, including Kubin (2021) and a 2025 study in Nature, shows how social platforms actively shape which issues feel urgent and which fade into the background, deepening divides on everything from climate and COVID to global conflicts. The takeaway is that social media platforms monetise division, where algorithms amplify outrage because outrage sustains attention.

 

If you want to see attention economics in its purest political form, look no further than the UK’s very own Nigel Farage. Empirical research and journalism show how, in the pre-Brexit era from 2018-2020, Farage strategically used social platforms to amplify emotionally charged themes like immigration, sovereignty, and Brexit, while sidestepping deeper policy scrutiny. Studies by Karamanidou & Sahin (2021), along with investigations in Wired and The Guardian, reveal the movement’s heavy reliance on high-engagement social media tactics that consistently pushed Farage’s narratives to the top of public discourse. An NBER analysis estimates that Brexit-related uncertainty drove UK investment down by roughly 11% in the three years after the referendum, with productivity falling 2–5% in the short run. 

 

Attention-driven politics didn’t just win the feed; it reshaped the economy!
 

When governments begin prioritising attention over actual outcomes, public spending shifts accordingly. Instead of directing resources toward productive areas such as education or R&D, policymakers gravitate toward projects that generate immediate visibility and emotional reaction, including border controls, defence initiatives, or short-term populist subsidies. Research from the Peterson Institute (2022) shows this pattern clearly: populist governments allocate about 25% more to short-term transfers and around 15% less to long-term investment compared to non-populist administrations. The UK reflects this dynamic as well. Digital engagement around NHS funding or housing policy remains significantly lower than engagement on topics like immigration or “small boats,” which creates a clear misalignment between the country’s economic needs and the issues that receive political attention. Recent work finds that countries run by populists see worse economic outcomes: after 15 years, GDP is on average about 10% lower than in comparable non-populist countries.

 

Take Turkey as a stark case study of how attention-driven populism can morph into a full-scale economic disaster. Under Erdoğan’s leadership, the government increasingly governed for spectacle rather than stability, using nationalist rhetoric and high-visibility political gestures to maintain public support. This same logic spilt directly into economic decision-making. To preserve the appearance of rapid growth and “strong leadership,” Erdoğan publicly rejected conventional economics and pressured the central bank to slash interest rates, framing high rates as unpatriotic and harmful to “the people.” The policy was not rooted in economic logic but in a populist narrative designed to attract attention and signal defiance of elite technocrats. The consequences were immediate: inflation surged to 60–80 per cent, the lira collapsed, and monetary credibility evaporated. Massive currency interventions drained foreign reserves, investor confidence plummeted, and households saw the value of their savings disappear. Turkey shows how attention politics can override technical expertise, incentivising leaders to choose headline-friendly policies over sustainable ones.

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In the digital era, attention has become both a form of political capital and a valuable economic resource. What this means is that now economists must recognise that information asymmetry stems not from a scarcity of data, but from a scarcity of focus. And the main challenge for modern democracies is to redirect attention from outrage to outcomes, before the cost becomes structural.

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We must realise that attention is the new currency, and it can either empower or trap us. Social media hooks us with outrage and instant hits, but we are not powerless. We can push back by questioning what we scroll, seeking diverse viewpoints, and prioritising substance over sensationalism. Governments and institutions also have a role to play. Policies that promote media literacy, transparency in algorithms, and accountability in political advertising can reduce the distortionary effects of attention-driven narratives. Strengthening independent journalism and supporting public-interest media can redirect focus toward long-term issues rather than viral distractions. In the end, mastering our attention is the only way to turn it into real power at both the individual and societal levels instead of falling into the digital trap.