The Economic Impact of St. Patrick’s Day
Written by: Alex Goodyear
Saint Patrick’s day is a widely celebrated holiday that more than half of all American celebrate. Being both a religious and cultural day, this event is amount the Irish and the Catholics. With this holiday right around the corner had me wonder about the economic impact this day might bring.When thinking of St. Patrick’s day some things that might come to mind is irish food and the color green. This can be seen with the dying of the Chicago river as well as a huge parade held there every year. These parades held this weekend, March 11, and will have a massive impact on the economy.
For the last 62 year, Chicago has been holding this event and every year seems to get bigger and better, which comes at a cost. This means bigger parades, more advertising, and more green dye. In order to dye the chicago river green, more than forty pounds of dye is used which costs a little more than $2000 dollars. On top of this cost, many Chicago business are required to close their business for the day, making them forfeit their opportunity cost of that day’s work. On top of this all, between all the loud noises and shut down streets, this holiday can cause negative externalities for those who are indifferent about the holiday.
Despite all the cost this celebration might bring, it yields alot of potential to produce revenue. As this is one of the largest St. Patrick celebration, many travel from all over the country for the weekend. With this, hotel's raise prices which might force the government to implement a price ceiling. The increase of people in Chicago will also bring more popularity to its restaurants and attractions such as the different museums.
All in all, St. Patrick’s day is celebrated across the world and has plenty of economic impact including the additional consumer spendings or the revenue brought into Chicago for their big parade.
Works Cited
"St. Patrick’s Day 2016 By The Numbers." WalletHub. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2017. https://wallethub.com/blog/st-patricks-day-facts/10960/.
"St. Patrick's Day Chicago 2017." St. Patrick's Day Chicago | Choose Chicago. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.http://www.choosechicago.com/st-patricks-day/.
"The 2017 Chicago St. Patrick's day parade." Chicago St. Patrick's Day Parade 2017. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.http://www.chicagostpatricksdayparade.org/.
I really liked how you talked about how although the the parade is growing, and it is generating tons of revenue, there are many opportunity costs as well. I wonder what the effect the green dye is having on wildlife in the area.
ReplyDeleteEspecially in Chicago St. Patrick's day has a huge impact on the economy as a whole. I didn't realize that a lot of downtown businesses have to close down and forfeit their earnings potential for that day. In my opinion, St. Patrick's day seems a little bit like a toned down Mardis Gras. There's a lot of revenue generated for just a short amount of time, which is typically the case with holidays.
ReplyDeleteI never realized how much St. Patrick's Day is growing as a national holiday. The generated revenue is much higher than I expected especially because I never really celebrate St. Patrick's Day. This is a really cool twist of a holiday I've never really thought of- keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteHolidays are not only a great time to have fun and spend time with family, but it is also is great for the economy. Especially in big cities St. Patrick's Day greatly benefits small businesses that have gear to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. These include mostly bars and party stores. St. Patrick's Day is coming up and hopefully it will have the similar affect on the economy as it has in recent years.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you covered most if not all aspects of what occurs during the St. Patrick's Day Parade. Although there may be more negative externalities economically, socially, it unifies people who are Catholic, Irish, or just simply want to celebrate the holiday. Personally, I was shocked at how many people celebrate St. Patrick's day and how it continues to increase. Around where we live, we don't have a parade or individuals who go full out on celebrating this holiday, but if we were to, would many individuals want to celebrate this holiday and would the businesses, like party stores, gain much profit?
ReplyDeleteI liked how you talked about events that are done in the US that many know about, like dying the Chicago river green. I do agree that not only St. Patrick's day, but holidays in general will bring more business for businesses like hotels more business because of all the people who will need a place to stay for their visit. I also am shocked that every year holidays like St. Patrick's day continue to grow in participation which will continue to have an impact on the economy.
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ReplyDeleteSt. Patrick’s day is a huge holiday all over the world, but mostly in Ireland. The various celebrations and parades that go on the entire day probably brings business a lot of revenue, especially their many pubs. So, it would be interesting to see how this would differ from country to country. It’s also interesting that holidays have such a big economic impact. You don’t realize all the extra items that are bought that would increase consumer spending which in turn would increase GDP. The impact may not be as big as Christmas, but if you were to add up all the holidays celebrated in the US, the total economic impact would be quite substantial. However, there is somewhat of an opportunity cost for business owners, as they wouldn’t be able to celebrate the holiday on their own since they are too busy with customers and what not. But, maybe the increase in revenues and publicity for their business is worth the lack of celebration, who knows.
ReplyDelete(fyi, comment written on march 16, posted the week after)