In his work Taiwan Lianqiao, Wu Chuo-liu points out that at the time of the 918 Incident the economy in Taiwan was in very bad shape. "There were unemployed everywhere. Young Taiwanese only wanted to leave the country.
吳濁流著的《台灣連翹》指出，「九一八」時，台灣非常不景氣，「失業的人到處都是，台灣青年只求出國，無論好壞，總想從台灣跳出去。」