This is a slightly revised post from exactly a year ago…..
In 2008, economist William F. Shughart did a back-of-the envelope calculation and estimated that the opportunity cost of daylight savings time (DST) was $1.7 billion per year:
Although it is unclear what benefit Americans derive from adjusting their timepieces twice a year, the costs they bear are clear. As the Benjamin Franklin adage goes: Time is money, and time spent resetting clocks and watches is time that cannot be devoted to other, more valuable uses. Switching between daylight saving and standard time has what economists call an "opportunity cost."
Economists typically value the opportunity cost of a person's time at his or her wage rate. The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the average American's hourly wage was $17.57 in September 2007. Assuming that it takes everyone 10 minutes to move all of their clocks and watches forward or backward by an hour, the opportunity cost of doing so works out to $2.93 per person. Multiplying that number by the total U.S. population (excluding Arizona) yields a one-time opportunity cost for the nation of just under $860 million—or, to be more precise, $858,274,802. Since clocks must be changed twice every year, this back-of-the-envelope calculation must be doubled, to approximately $1.7 billion annually."
Please continue reading at: http://www.aei-ideas.org/2013/03/daylight-savings-time-costs-about-2-billion-each-year/
