The illusion that destruction and money spent in recovery from destruction, is a net-benefit to society. A broader application of this fallacy is the general tendency to overlook opportunity costs or that which is unseen, either in a financial sense or other.
Examples:
- Dad, I actually did America a favor by crashing your car. Now, some auto shop will have more work, their employees will make more money, those employees will spend their money, and who knows, they might just come to your store and buy some of your products!
Synonyms: glazier’s fallacy