Michelle Dieckelman
Mrs. Straub
AP Economics
14 March 2016
Economics Involved with St. Patrick’s Day
When one sees the color of green everywhere, one knows that the holiday of St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner. Every year people get dressed in green and can’t wait to celebrate on March 17th. For example, in 2015 82% of people said they wear green to celebrate this holiday (“St. Patrick’s Day”). There is tremendous preparation that gets put into preparing for this holiday including: the dying of many rivers, making a delicious meal, and making sure the parade goes on without any faults. As this holiday is so widely celebrated, it increases the GDP for each country. For example, $4.6 billion was spent on St. Patrick’s Day in the United States in 2015 (“St. Patrick’s Day”). Since this day generates so much revenue, there will be an increase in the national income, for the United States.
As well as that many people plan to go out and do something fun on this eventful day, so there will be an increase in workforce. The unemployment rate will not necessarily increase, as the amount of workers may only increase just for one day, instead of these laborers finding a permanent job. All of these workers will be paid for them doing a specific job. In order to be the most efficient on this holiday, workers should specialize and chose something they would want to do.
Besides the color green, gold and leprechauns are associated with St. Patrick’s Day. Some people may try to buy a product with gold on this day to be in the holiday spirit. Since gold is a different form of payment than the usual cash, fiat money, it is considered to a standard of value. Many people chose to celebrate this holiday because of the history found all over the world. In the United States, many people have an Irish heritage, which gives them more of a reason to celebrate. As one can see from the picture below that most of the Irish heritage in the United States is found more on the East Coast (Kiernan). 
The East Coast has a lot of Irish heritage which means they have many traditions that they celebrate for St. Patrick’s Day. These traditions have been passed around through the United States, almost like the multiplier effect, and now all states celebrate this holiday.
When going out on St. Patrick’s Day, make sure to be careful because in the years of 2009-2013, there were 273 drunk driving casualties (Kiernan). In order to keep this number down, everyone needs to be careful. As well as this, make sure to have fun when celebrating. On the business standpoint, when people celebrate, a business can increase their revenue, because of consumer spending, which also can affect GDP. All in all, whether you have an Irish heritage or not, celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and create a memory.
Works Cited
Kiernan, John. “St. Patrick’s Day by the Numbers.” WalletHub. Evolution Finance, Inc, n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.
“St. Patrick’s Day Statistics and Trends.” Fundivo. N.p., n.d. Web. 14. Mar. 2016.
I find the celebration of holidays to be an interesting economic topic. As we've seen over the years, from Christmas to Valentine's day, holidays have become less focused on tradition and more on consumerism. It's all about buying and supplying. I like how you included the fact that $4.6 billion is spent on St. Patrick's Day but it was a little unclear whether that was money spent solely by consumers. If that was the case it would have been interesting to know the costs for the economy associated with the holiday to determine how much revenue is really generated. That, along with the losses due to the drunk driving deaths you mentioned, may lead to less benefits than we'd think. I also thought it was interesting how you mentioned the East Coast and how the holiday is more widely celebrated there. I think you could've included some facts to back that up and elaborate on but overall I think you covered a wide range of ideas and I found your post interesting.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I associate the color green with Christmas more often than I do St. Patrick's Day. But, this doesn't mean that I don't celebrate the holiday, or understand its economic value. I thought that it was interesting that you included the fact that $4.6 billion is spent on St. Patrick's Day, however I thought that you stressed consumerism a bit too heavily. Not only does consumerism increase, but the money spent by businesses on St. Patrick's Day merchandise and food is also a point of economic analysis for the holiday. I also like how you mentioned the increase the workforce, but I don't think it would increase drastically, due to the fact that it is only a day. Overall, I thought that the facts you included were fit for your argument, and were interesting. I also thought that your economic terminology was accurate, yet could have been expanded on a bit. Also, a graph would have been nice. Overall, nice job!
ReplyDeleteI thought your post was very relevant to today since St. Patrick’s Day is only two days away! I liked how you stated the fact that in 2015, $4.6 billion was spent on this day. I wonder how much was spent on St. Patrick’s day in previous years compared to 2015. I predict that in 2016 this number will be greater than $4.6 billion due traditions being passed around to more people as you stated. The map you provided was very interesting because I did not know that the east coast has a lot of Irish heritage. I wonder if there is a reason that more people who live on the east coast are Irish. Overall great job using vocabulary terms and describing them. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteHolidays are a really an interesting economic topic. Over the years holidays have become more and more consumer based with media advertising attempting to sway individuals from traditions. I like how you included the fact that $4.6 billion is spent on St. Patrick's Day but is that amount spent only by people of the businesses themselves. Overall I think this post really talked about a great range of information but I would've loved for you to get a little more in depth. Overall i think this was very informative and enjoyable to read.
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ReplyDeleteOverall this post was very insightful. I thought that at times you got a bit off the topic of how St. Patrick's Day makes money for the economy. I found t interesting that people spend $4.7 billion dollars per year and agree that this would be a major boost for the economy. However, you referenced that the workforce would increase, but that may only be the case for that day. I thought that you understood the economic terms that you used and used them fairly well. Some parts got a little awkward like when you compared the Irish heritage passing down through generations to the multiplier effect, but all in all, I thought it was a very interesting post.
DeleteI'm not a very big celebrator of St. Patrick's Day; however, the impact one holiday can have on the United States is quite fascinating. The comparison you made between the multiplier effect and the spread of this holiday was something I had never thought of before. I am sure other holiday's have came from a similar idea, especially one's celebrating heritage. But the increase in GDP is obviously quite small per country as a result of the Holiday. I feel as if Christmas would have a greater impact because it employs people more permanently and a lot more money is spent by government and consumers to celebrate. Overall, your post made me think about the impact of a holiday I often overlook but I guess economics can be seen everywhere. Nice post!
ReplyDeleteI never would have realized that $4.6 billion was spent on St. Patrick's Day. I wonder how much of that is spent in beer and alcohol alone? It is truly amazing how much Americans spend on holidays. Your article prompted me to look at how much is spent on other holidays. It isn't difficult to guess Christmas is #1 at $616 billion, Valentines Day #2 at $18.9 billion and Halloween at #3 at $6.9 billion per year.
ReplyDeleteAlthough St. Patrick's Day is a largely celebrated holiday per your contextual paragraph, I disagree with your argument that is raises the GDP and lowers the unemployment rate. Because GDP is measured annually, and St. Patrick's Day occurs every year, it is a continuous and constant increase in spending during this time of the year, however because of this, it does not affect GDP or real GDP. The unemployment rate will also not be affected by the holiday considering there aren't too many jobs that pertain specifically to St. Patrick's Day. People who work on St. Patrick's Day typically have jobs already. Your incorporation of vocab was very creative, especially when you described the fiat money and the standard of value in terms of leprechaun gold. Great job on your article!
ReplyDeleteSt. Patrick's Day is celebrated in many different ways and it is interesting to see the effects of a holiday which spurs on the economy like that. I enjoyed your use of the allegory of leprechaun gold for the explanation.
ReplyDeleteYour fact stating that 82% of people dressed up seems a little high. As looking around the classroom, I see only 1 person out of the 30 people in the class wearing green and that might only be by chance. Even though I do not personally celebrate St. Patrick's day, I know the people who do, go all out. Also every year, local bars and restaurants make a ton of money during this day, no matter is it is a week night or not. It would be an interesting statistic to see how much more money bars and restaurants make on St. Patrick's day compared to other days of the year. Overall good article.
ReplyDeleteI like the creative approach you took on your piece-- incorporating economic terms and concepts while broadening the holiday of St. Patrick's Day to get across the many effects it has on American culture, with tradition, accidents, decorations, etc. Holidays in America have definitely strayed from the traditional aspect to consumerism-- the tastes of consumers changing, thus increasing the demand curve for components essential to holiday celebration. While overall I would argue that St. Patrick's Day doesn't really affect the GDP, but like you said, it still has an interestingly large economic impact. Overall, nice use of econ terms, and very creative approach!
ReplyDeleteI really think you did a good job of incorporating different concepts into your writing. Likewise you didn't just look at one aspect of the holiday but rather multiple parts of it that created one big impact. Often I think that we forget how much of an impact that holidays have on the economy, but it shouldn't affect the GDP that much unless we start celebrating a new holiday or stop celebrating a different one. Overall a solid piece on how what might seem to some as a "minor holiday" can still have a major effect on our economy.
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