That's part of it. But the more important part is that "black swan" events can have serious repercussions on people's perception of risk. If we had the 9/11-equivalent of an antibiotic-related problem - unexpected, sudden and with thousands of deaths - then the entire country would start pouring billions into making sure it doesn't happen again.

edit: It is my belief that most problems don't get treated as "real" in people's minds unless they are two degrees of separation or less from someone who is affected.