Chase Seliger
12/1/14
Economics B2
Mr. Reuter
How is Christmas good for the Economy?
Christmas is one of the largest holidays in America, maybe even the biggest. People spend hundreds of dollars each year on this one holiday, but the true question, is it good for our economy? Even before I give the evidence to show how it is good I will answer the question, which is an easy and simple one. Of course Christmas is good for our economy, it helps it stay afloat in many ways and here is why it is such a huge plus to our economy.
When you think of Christmas, you think of presents, but how much money does each family in America really put towards this holiday all together? Only a whopping, 400 billion dollars into our economy, and if you think about it thats a hugely insane amount. Each American spends an average of $809 (Not adjusted to inflation), which is a lot if you think about how many Americans there actually are. Another thing Christmas also does is gives more opportunity for jobs as more people are hired at retail stores, which lift employment and stimulate the economy. For many shops, this season accounts for nearly half of their annual revenue. If you lopped December off every shopping calendar, the U.S. retail industry would be in a permanent depression. Not only would each retail store be in a permanent depression, our overall economy would most likely be in a depression or at least a huge drop in the health of our economy. So overall in the end, Christmas is a huge plus in the American economy.
works cited:
Thompson, Derek. "Is Christmas Bad for the Economy?" The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 07 Dec. 2011. Web. 01 Dec. 2014. <http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/12/is-christmas-bad-for-the-economy/249618/>.
I can definitely see how Christmas is a major, positive factor in our economy. Economists are always searching for ways to spur the economy and get money circulating, and Christmas is a guaranteed way for this to happen. Automatically, people spend a large amount of money annually and businesses and our economy reap the benefits. The question is how much would the economy have to experience failure in order for people to cease this annual spending? Or is the inelasticity of Christmas shopping strong enough to overcome an economic downturn?
ReplyDeleteThat is a very good point Ryan. I think that christmas spending would decrease if a downturn in the economy happened. I know I bargain hunt like crazy for spending money on christmas presents. Christmas shopping and spending will always be a high commodity, but I do think that with the economy increases and decreases, so does the amount spent.
DeleteI am part of two families and it seems like every year one family spends much less than the average and another which spends just about at the average. If it wasn't for this season then this money would be spent elsewhere because in my family we always reduce spending leading up to the Christmas season so we can afford gifts for Christmas and don't have to charge it. At least in my experience it seems like without Christmas the economy would have the same year-round average spending but it would be much more level.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Christmas is a huge booster for the American economy. It pumps billions of dollars back into the economy. As for your chart, I saw how Christmas spending decreased a lot in 2009 but it's good to see that it's increasing and getting back on track which is a sign that our economy as a whole is likely doing the same.
ReplyDeleteWith Christmas being one of the biggest holidays of the year, customers are willing to spend large amounts of money to make their peers happy. They don’t realize that with all of that money that they are spending is helping to improve our economy. Our economy relies heavily on the large amounts of money that consumers spend each year, not only on Christmas but also other holidays.
ReplyDeleteHi Chase,
ReplyDeleteChristmas vacation is only a little over a week away! How exciting!... Anyways, I agree with you that Christmas is a big economic stimulation for the months of December and even November too as people spend on decorations, gifts, and many other things to make the holiday season bright. However, after the holiday season is over, do you think people will again be out of jobs? I know a lot of retail stores hire only seasonal employees so will this make the economy decline again after December and the New Year are over? I think maybe yes!
My mom used to help Toy's R Us around Christmas. For some extra money. So yeah I know Christmas can help people get jobs, if only for a short while. 400 billion dollars is a lot of money flowing into the economy! It would only make sense that X-mas would help and not hurt the economy.
ReplyDeleteChase, I found it really interesting how much Christmas actually adds to our economy. The think I found most interesting is your graph, and how it visually shows at what times our economy had hardships. (Also the graph follows the business cycle) Another alarming stat is how much each household spends on Christmas, and I was wondering if the $809 is just on presents, or Christmas food and decorations together. If the $809 is spent on just presents alone, that itself shows just how impacting Christmas is on the economy. Nice job.
ReplyDeleteYou did a good job explaining how Christmas helped people get jobs and how it decreased the unemployment rate for a little while. It is interesting how many people go into debt for Christmas because they don't have enough money at the time then thy use a credit card and they cant make their payments. I would be curious to see what spending looks like after the Christmas season because people have no money left after. It seems to me that even though things would peak during the holidays, just like a new years resolution, things go back to the way they were three weeks later.
ReplyDeleteChristmas shopping is very positive for our economy because people are willing to waste large amounts of money in presents. It's the time of the year where people care less about buying stuff. With inflation, of course it's less probable for people to buy as expensive presents but still they wont stop buying since it's already tradition.
ReplyDeleteThat is crazy how much money is put into the economy at this time of the year. However I wonder how much money is put into the economy over the course of one whole year and what percent of that just comes from Christmas sales. The actual percent of money that go into the economy over a year and just the amount that goes in during Christmas I'm sure that the numbers show that only about 10 to 15 percent have come from Christmas sales.
ReplyDeleteChase, christmas is a great time and I love it so much! Parents tend to spend a lot of money on kids and themselves during christmas, and I know that for a fact because I ask for presents that are a little $100 dollars each. It does help the economy a lot though because so people are buying so many different types of present for each other. One product might not sell that good, but when christmas comes around, I could have a huge boost in sales. The piece is short but too the point so good job Chase!
ReplyDeleteLove, Conner
Chase, you are completely right about this. Christmas brings in a lot of money sense that is when people buy new cars and other very expensive gifts. Without Christmas, I have no idea where our country would be because it does so much for our country.
ReplyDeleteChristmas is a big holiday, and is always popular among families. Between children not only wanting presents from their parents, siblings, or extended family, but Santa. With younger children believing in Santa, it puts more money into the economy because parents play the game and children always wake up to see if they had been good all year. Yes, Christmas time is a big time for everyone, between spending money on cookie ingredients, spending money on ornaments, spending money on going to visit family at long distances. During the Christmas season, it is meant for giving, so more people will spend more money to make sure everyone gets their wants, and the less fortunate can get a present under the Christmas tree. Besides getting to spend time with family, many things during the Christmas season comes with a price tag whether small or large.
ReplyDeleteI think that this was such an interesting blog post. I definitely agree that December is a very important month for all retail industries considering that so many people have a sense of urgency when it comes to getting all the christmas presents that they need to get for their families. Although I think that Americans spend too much money on presents during this holiday, it definitely does help the overall health of the economy.
ReplyDeleteChristmas definitely brings a huge influx of money into the U.S economy. That's why businesses have huge sales to try and bring the money their way. Christmas is by far the most materialistic holiday there is and it is becoming increasingly important to buy extravagant gifts to out do one another. It continuously stresses people out about all of the presents they will have to buy and the effect that might have on their bank accounts.
ReplyDeleteWow, I would have never guessed that Christmas would impact our economy in such a way. To see that Christmas puts more than 400 million dollars into our economy is just astounding. On average every american spends $809 every year. Just to see how much the helps our economy is amazing because it lowers unemployment and puts jobs into people hands.
ReplyDeleteI agree Chirstmas is very good for the economy, As Christmas approaches more money is spend. More money means the government is benefiting from it, The government is getting profit on what you spend so they get part of the money you spend. So when you spend your money at Christmas the government wants you to spend as much money as you can so they get more money. So the government benefits from you when you spend your money. nice topic
ReplyDeleteThis post was very relevant as Christmas is fast approaching. It is interesting to hear of the insane amount of money that Americans spend each year around this time. I really wonder, however, what would be found if we compared the spending totals from year to year. Would we find that it increases or decreases and how does it compare to the health of the economy (GDP, Job Growth, Inflation)?
ReplyDeleteI agree with your post about how Christmas positively affects our economy! Not only do people spend a lot of money on gifts, but decorations and food too! I never thought about how the job market grows during the economy, but I can understand how more jobs are needed for the busy shopping season. I would be interested to know the rise in GDP that occurs during December. Interesting and relevant post!
ReplyDeleteI would definitely agree with you, Christmas has a huge economic impact, especially with things that might not even be the actual presents. For example, the decorations probably account for a lot of economic activity and also, people tend to forget about how many people buy plane tickets to go see relatives. I just wanted to know what factors your research took into account out of curiosity.
ReplyDeleteI think that Christmas is very important for our economy, and it is easy to see why. People get in giving moods and see all these new things that they want. The whole holiday season is kicked off by Black Friday and then continues to go as Christmas comes near. Not only that but people like to give to charities and to different food pantries as a part of the season or for taxes. I really think that Christmas is important for the economy because it helps our debt and helps people continue to remain happy which is what the United States need.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Christmas has to be very positive. I know that my family spends tons of money during Christmas and I would be willing to guess that others do as well. Overall it gets a bunch of cash flowing throughout the economy.
ReplyDeleteChristmas is a really awesome holiday. I get to see family I wouldn't normally see otherwise, and the amount of sweets eaten is excusable. As a country, we tend to gorge ourselves on anything we can exploit as a day to celebrate and end up pouring billions into it, especially when AAA companies get involved. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, because it's fantastic for the economy, but it's starting to detract from the true meaning of these holidays, and I think the widely scoped commercialization of them is a leading factor.
ReplyDeleteThis was a great topic to write your article on since Christmas is coming up. It really makes us realize how crucial holiday spending is for the economy. Not only does it raise the overall GDP because so many people are buying new goods, but it also is one of the happiest times of the year. Having a happy nation of people is also very important to the success of an economy even though it cannot be measured in a numerical value.
ReplyDeleteI knew Christmas was good for the economy but I never would of thought that it had that much of an impact by putting the economy in a constant recession if we just lopped off December
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't surprise me that Christmas is good for the economy. Every year there are always millions of people out buying expensive stuff to make their family and friends happy. I'm sure that's why all the stores take advantage of this holiday season and have sales to bring in even more customers and make more of a profit. Ultimately this holiday season is beneficially for everybody as it sums up the end of the year.
ReplyDeleteI always knew that Christmas had a big impact on our economy, but what I really wonder what impact it has on our economy after the holiday season is over. Sure, employment rates rise, and millions of American's shop, but after the season what happens to the employers that were just hired for the holiday season? Or the stores that struggle after Christmas is over? I think that Christmas has a short term beneficial effect on our economy, but it also can have drawbacks when the season ends.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Christmas is a huge help to our economy, it puts a lot of money back into circulation and people are a lot more likely to buy more and more items. This allows the business cycle to continue to flow well and in turn boosts the economy. Plus since more and more people are buying, more workers are needed to help with the holiday craze meaning that unemployment levels lower, at least during the winter months. Christmas is like black Friday, it is a holiday that helps stores stay open during the cold months when less and less people are shopping and without it, our economy wouldn’t be doing as well.
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ReplyDeleteDuring the holiday season I probably spend the most money I ever do throughout the year and this is just because I love Christmas shopping and the holiday, the festivities, and the songs, it puts me in a good mood, which means I’ll be willing to spend more money.I agree that without Christmas, the economy would be severely depressed. Although Christmas has been vastly commercialized in order for companies to generate more profit from festive shoppers, without the holiday, businesses would definitely not generate as much profit as they do now.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with you how Christmas positively affects our economy and it is crazy to think of how much money we spend on Christmas each year. Not only are we spending money on presents for everyone, but food and decorations for the holidays as well. I see how there are more jobs needed during the holiday season because so many people are out buying more things than usual and that is why more stores tend to pay their employees more over the holidays when they get really busy. I think it is crazy how each american spends on average $809 around this time of year. It would also be interesting to see the rise in GDP that occurs during the holidays.
Christmas is definitely great for our economy. It is kind of crazy thinking that on average Americans spend $809 on Christmas, especially because that probably includes babies and children that don't really buy Christmas presents in the total population, so if you think about it even more is spent per family that $809. Although Christmas is great for America's economy, it definitely is a hard hitter on families and their savings. It's an expensive time for anyone that's buying presents for their families and close friends. Overall it may be good for the economy, but if you aren't smart with your money you could struggle money wise during Christmas time.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I don't know if the US Economy would completely fail without the Christmas season to increase revenue, I do agree that the increased demand of many, if not all, products is significant during the holiday season. Christmas gives consumers many opportunities to increase spending through gifts, decorations, trees, baking supplies, or even giving to charities. This economic activity is a great way to start off the new year.
ReplyDeleteChristmas is always an incredibly busy time of year, with parents scrambling to buy presents for their kids, or families buying decorations to make their house look festive. It is really interesting to see this put into numbers. I was surprised to see how much Christmas boosts the economy.
ReplyDeleteIt's very true that Christmas has a big effect on the economy. I know that stores like Best Buy and Target, who sell many more items during Christmas, hire seasonal employees who are employed all year round but only work during the holidays. This gives college kids or high schoolers with busy schedules the chance to make some extra money during the holidays. Also, stores that we don't normally think of like grocery stores make much more money too because more expensive items like vanilla or specialty baking items are selling for Christmas cookies and turkeys or hams are selling for Christmas dinner.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that Christmas is huge for economy, I think of what happens after Christmas. There is a surplus of products because producers believe there is a higher demand now companies lose money because they have to sell these items cheaper. Others are now out of jobs because the holiday season is over and there is a high demand for labor anymore because things will begin to settle down. In the mean time during Christmas, Black Friday, and Valentines day the economy must be booming and in my opinion they are great for the economy until the holiday approaches and is soon over.
ReplyDeleteChase- Christmas is a crazy time to of the year with ads being thrown in the consumers’ faces as well. This is another place for potential employees to get jobs and for the consumers to get roped into the idea that their original idea of spending only $100 per kid for Christmas, just won’t cut it. Also, it is kind of unsettling that our country would be in a long term depression if we all decided to collectively to stop spending so much on Christmas.
ReplyDeleteWith Christmas being one of the biggest holidays of the year, most people are willing to spend large amounts of money to make their family and friends happy. But what most people don’t know is that most businesses survive because of this gift giving season. Most businesses are in the red zone until Christmas coming along, then they’re in the black zone. This means that until Christmas season businesses aren't making any money, in the red, but after Christmas they’re making profits, in the black. So for some businesses the results of the Christmas season will either make them or break them.
ReplyDeleteIt really is weird how one month can impact the success of a business. I for one do believe that many stores rely on Christmas in order to boost sales. Although do the sales that stores offer help or hurt these business because they are giving such a large reduction on items in order to get the attention of the consumer? I think this does have some sort of impact, but it will not ultimately hurt the business.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to holidays and distributing gifts, Christmas happens to be at the top. And it's a sly scheme that markets use to produce goods luring people to buy their brands. As do other holidays such as Thanksgiving, more relative to food, and the newer holidays such as Father's and Mother's Day. Yet on Christmas, almost everyone receives a gift. Depending on what people see as a gift, the intention is to make people happy... so can money buy happiness on such a holiday? There's another question to think about. Nevertheless, gifts on Christmas are taken seriously-- wrapped, placed under a tree, then opened on Christmas Day. It does help the economy, and is the top holiday that people spend the most in, so in that case, the economy's gift is a needed boost at every time this year from the US people.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Christmas is obviously a huge help to the economy in the United States, but I also wonder the impact that it has in other countries across the globe especially in areas such as Europe. Is the impact comparable to the impact here either numerically or proportionally, and is this number growing staying level, or diminishing in inflation adjusted currency.
ReplyDeleteI don't think there's any possible argument that Christmas isn't a huge stimulant to the economy. Not only does it get money moving throughout the economy changing hands from buyer to supplier, but it also offers more job opportunities to those in need during the Christmas season. We generally only think about the gift giving during the Christmas season, but there are also a lot of money being spend on decorations, food, and other miscellaneous objects that surround Christmas. Overall, the Christmas season is a great stimulant to the economy and might be the best holiday economically in the year.
ReplyDeleteYou’re right about Christmas being an important holiday. We read an article in our econ class about gift giving at the holidays. The author contended that the best gift to give in the holidays is a gift card, because it can be used to purchase anything the person desires. If you give a physical gift to someone that they don’t value, there is a loss of efficiency.
ReplyDeleteChristmas is a great time for our economy and especially many producers. The demand is high during this time of year, causing many producers to increase their supply. This also offers many jobs for the unemployed to deal with the immense amount out help certain companies need in order to satisfy their customers. Gift-giving is what the most money is spent on which brings in a high total revenue for many businesses. That's crazy that the average American will spend over $800 during this holiday season.
ReplyDeleteI see your point of view, but I’m going to have to disagree for two reasons. The first is that employers usually don’t just hire new employees on account of a couple of busy days. That just wouldn’t make sense because soon enough stores would have too much staffing that they couldn’t pay for. The other reason I disagree is that if December was dropped off the calendar it wouldn’t necessarily put retail into a depression. People would still find a way to go on a spending spree every once in a while. Not even that, but the fact that consumers are spending a bunch at Christmas doesn’t mean that they have suddenly become more prosperous. In this way, spending is deceiving people into thinking that the economy is wealthy and thriving.
ReplyDeleteChase, I agree that Christmas shopping contributes greatly and positively to the American economy. So many people benefit from Christmas gift-giving and other festivities such as the producers of the actual gift, wrapping paper firms, tape, shippers, tree farms, candy cane producers, and so many more. It would be interesting to see how much different companies put into Christmas advertising, and how much they actually boost profits. Additionally, however, it would be interesting to see how other countries are influenced by the Christmas traditions there.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that the Christmas season does benefit the economy in a number of ways. The amount it can help the economy can fluctuate from year to year however. Since Thanksgiving is at different dates each year the holiday season from Thanksgiving to Christmas is a different number of days long. In years such as this year when Thanksgiving came late, companies need to make their advertising earlier to compensate for lost time. People often complain about how holiday ads are coming earlier and earlier but that may fluctuate based on the date of Thanksgiving. If Thanksgiving were to come on an early date one year companies would not be as prone to advertise early.
ReplyDeleteHonestly if you look at the graph you'd see that, with adjusted for inflation, there is a very small overall increase. Also you can't say if we take of December we'd always be losing, that is because businesses plan for December to roll around and voluntarily take loses, if we didn't have a huge holiday season that wouldn't be the case. The holidays are only good because we make them good, the economy could be just as fine, if not better, if it never existed.
ReplyDeleteI do not mean to be a Grinch but I have read the article you cited and I regret to inform you that you have plagiarized. You need to correctly cite the direct quotes and summaries you have in your paper. Also you misrepresent the article-it later goes on to explain the negative effects of the Christmas economy which, in manner of speaking, negates the positive impacts. You need to also mention this as it is part of your source-especially since the author, Derek Thompson, uses the argument as a question to emphasize the negativity of Christmas Economics. You could then provide a counter argument as to why the authors view is incorrect or even how later the author goes on to admit Christmas and Santa do stimulate buying and various methods to counteract the negative impacts. I am not saying this to be mean, I just want to make sure you know it's Very Very important to cite your sources correctly and truthfully represent your sources-plagiarizing is a very serious matter and is treated as a crime when you get older. Just be careful and keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteI do not mean to be a Grinch but I have read the article you cited and I regret to inform you that you have plagiarized. You need to correctly cite the direct quotes and summaries you have in your paper. Also you misrepresent the article-it later goes on to explain the negative effects of the Christmas economy which, in manner of speaking, negates the positive impacts. You need to also mention this as it is part of your source-especially since the author, Derek Thompson, uses the argument as a question to emphasize the negativity of Christmas Economics. You could then provide a counter argument as to why the authors view is incorrect or even how later the author goes on to admit Christmas and Santa do stimulate buying and various methods to counteract the negative impacts. I am not saying this to be mean, I just want to make sure you know it's Very Very important to cite your sources correctly and truthfully represent your sources-plagiarizing is a very serious matter and is treated as a crime when you get older. Just be careful and keep up the good work.
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