The wedding of Prince William and Katherine Middleton may be a double edged sword for England England
For the royal wedding alone, the tourism industry in England London hosted about 3.5 million travelers (Cork England
Money is being spent by both tourists and citizens. The April 29th bank holiday allowed workers time to go and spend their money on luxury items they may not have otherwise. There were street parties and flat viewings, which spurred consumers to purchase food and other entertainment items. Royal wedding merchandise also had its own profits (Wood 15).
April 29th’s bank holiday came on the heels of an Easter break. It is also estimated that workers will be taking additional time off from the already extended holiday (Voigt). This change in the amount of human resources available is likely to decrease the ability for England
What does all of this mean for their economy? Can the good will generated and increased spending be enough to replace the decreased production from the time off? Will one day make a significant impact on England England
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Works Cited:
Voigt, Kevin. "Royal wedding: Pricey or priceless?."Business 360. CNN, 04292011. Web. 21 May 2011. <http://business.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/29/royal-wedding-pricy-or-priceless/>.
Wood, Zoe. "Royal wedding gives £2bn boost to UK
Very interesting read.
ReplyDeleteI think people fail to really visualize and accept the fact that the English economy may be boosted for a short while, but they forget about that short, sharp decline afterwards, and the absence of a workforce for a short period of time that really affects the production capacity of England.
My personal opinion on the matter is that the increase in spending is enough to sustain that loss of production.
I fathom there will be no significant long-term change. Humans enjoy using empty symbolism to spend and commemorate; national royalty may provide a further incentive. An actual capital investment would likely render an LT benefit to GDP, but a few weeks of spending -if that- is but a mere blip on the curve.
ReplyDeleteAs one who got up early enough to watch most of the event, I never gave a thought to what the day off would mean to their economy. My opinion is that the increased spending and tourism would more than make up for the lack of one day's productivity. It will be interesting to discover what the economists have to say about the effect of this on England's overall economy.
ReplyDeleteOn May 11, 2011, the Daily Mirror published a short article about the effect of the bank holiday on the British economy the day of the Royal wedding. Apparently, the wedding which was compared to Queen Elizabeth’s 2002 Golden Jubilee will have some impact on the GDP. But other factors like the Japanese earthquake and tsunami are expected to contribute to a second quarter decline. The earthquake and tsunami disrupted the supply chain and car manufacturers in England have cut back. Because many firms in England moved their Easter closing to coincide with the bank holiday for the Royal Wedding, there was not much impact on production. The Bank of England predicts that despite the temporary decline, England’s economy should bounce back in the third quarter of 2011.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2011/05/11/bank-of-england-warns-against-effects-of-royal-wedding-bank-holiday-and-japanese-earthquake-on-economy-115875-23123155/
@Zac - I don't know that a wedding and a boost in the public interest of the English monarchial system is actually "empty symbolism" but respect your comparison.
ReplyDelete@Australia - I read that article too. At first, I thought that the wedding would have a minor, but positive impact on the economy. After researching, though, I am tending to lean more towards what SB900 thinks - the long term effects will be balanced out by the short term boost.
I really never though of what an impact the Royal Wedding would have on England’s economy but now that I take the time to think about it… the Royal Wedding must have been very beneficial. I agree strongly and can see the affects it has had.
ReplyDeleteWow! I like your intuitiveness on making the connection between the Royal Wedding and economic boost! The increased tourism of course has its benefits, with increased outside cash flow coming into the country. I do understand that the decrease in production does in fact damper the affect. But I believe overall there will be a boost directly caused form this wedding. I think that with all its publicity and hype, the wedding will increase British pride among English citizens. They will want subconsciously be in better moods and want to work hard to further their country. Anytime a country can boost national pride, there almost seems to be a rise in its economy.
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