On Sunday, November 5th, most people in the United States will set their clocks back an hour to “return” to standard time as part of the biannual time-changing ritual.
Much of the analysis surrounding America’s twice-yearly clock changes has focused on the health effects of daylight saving time (DST), such as an increased risk of heart disease due to disrupted sleep schedules, but less on the economic damage. Not getting attention.
But research shows that changing your clock twice a year has very real negative financial implications, and the evidence is mounting.
A study published last year by researchers from several business schools found that investors and capital market participants were slower to react to financial reports the week after they were “advanced” in the middle of earnings season. did.
“These results are most pronounced for firms with investors who are more likely to trade on earnings news and for firms with less sophisticated investor bases,” the authors write. “Further analysis revealed that our main performance was driven by a subdued reaction to unexpectedly positive results. Consistent with obstacles and investor pessimism.”
Other business school researchers said on Monday after DST. Increase in occupational accidents.
Not only that, but the severity of injuries (measured by days of work lost due to injury) has skyrocketed by 67%.
A subsequent study found a sharp increase in “cyberloafing,” in which employees scroll the internet for non-work-related activities, on the Monday after DST.
There is also evidence that changes in time can lead to more heart attacks, strokes, and depression, leading to higher healthcare costs.
Even commuting has become dangerous and expensive, considering the change to daylight savings time has been linked to a spike in car accidents.
Additionally, while DST has been touted as an energy-saving measure, a 2008 study by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that DST actually led to a 1% increase in residential energy consumption by Indiana consumers and It turns out that there are extra costs involved. It is estimated that the electricity bill will cost him $9 million, and the “social costs of increased pollution emissions” will cost him between $1.7 million and $5.5 million.
Although it is difficult to determine the actual dollar amount of the collective impact of these factors, a Chura Economy & Analytics study from a decade ago found that spring changes cost the U.S. economy more than $433 million. It has been found.
As of 2021, Manhattan Institute Senior Fellow Alison Schrager reported that DST is costing the airline industry alone hundreds of millions of dollars.
Despite evidence that changing clocks harms Americans’ health and the economy, Congress’s latest efforts to end the practice appear to have stalled.
Sen. Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, has long led a bipartisan coalition to make current daylight savings time the new standard.
His Sunshine Protection Act, which would eliminate time changes, passed the Senate unanimously last year, but the House never took it up in Congress.
Rubio reintroduced the bill in March with support from senators from both sides of the aisle, and Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Florida) also introduced a companion bill in the House.
Both bills remain in committee.
