Why Daylight Saving Time is Pointless

From Julie Borowski:

If you woke up today feeling miserable, you’re not alone. As someone who is sensitive to jet lag and time changes, I’ve always dreaded Daylight Saving Time. Enough to write a blog post ranting about it. I woke up this morning cursing the government for making me feel terrible. Someone commented that I blame the government too much. No, no, no. Other people don’t blame the government enough.

Government needs to stop screwing around with time. It is bad for your health, doesn’t save energy, cost a lot of money and is totally unnecessary.

 Daylight Saving Time is bad for your health:

Monday morning risks can be more serious than needing to nap at your desk :researchers at Loyola University School of Medicine report that there are more workplace injuries and traffic accidents the day after we turn our clocks ahead. Heart attack rates increase by as much as 10%. The time change is hardest on those who are chronically sleep deprived: the National Sleep Foundation estimates that more than one-third of Americans are dangerously sleepy.

(h/t United Liberty)

It doesn’t save energy:

In recent years several studies have suggested that daylight saving time doesn’t actually save energy—and might even result in a net loss.

Environmental economist Hendrik Wolff, of the University of Washington, co-authored a paper that studied Australian power-use data when parts of the country extended daylight saving time for the 2000 Sydney Olympics and others did not. The researchers found that the practice reduced lighting and electricity consumption in the evening but increased energy use in the now dark mornings—wiping out the evening gains.

It may actually waste more energy. Indiana started observing Daylight Saving Time in 2005. Hoosiers now pay more on their electric bills than they did before the switch. Why?

That’s because the extra hour that daylight saving time adds in the evening is a hotter hour. “So if people get home an hour earlier in a warmer house, they turn on their air conditioning,” the University of Washington’s Wolff said.

Oh, and it cost a lot of money: 

One economist has estimated the cost of shifting that hour forward due to daylight saving time is $1.7 billion dollars a year. That represents just under $3 per American in lost productivity due to clock resetting.

It’s confusing. People miss appointments. Plus it’s bad for business.

Critics, including those behind the online petition at End Daylight Saving Time, say the time shifting causes more problems than it’s worth by making it exceedingly difficult for businesses to coordinate timetables with markets in Asia and Africa and Europe.

Robert Murphy, adjunct scholar of the Mises Institute, helps prove my point. His Facebook status: “had totally forgotten about Daylight Savings until I noticed my microwave, cell phone, and laptop having a dispute.”

It’s unnecessary. What’s the point anyway?

The name is dumb too. The government cannot “save” any daylight. We have exactly the same amount of daylight as we did before.

Arizona doesn’t observe Daylight Saving Time. There’s a Navajo saying about it.

The government is responsible for my sleep deprivation and any typos in this post.

H/T Economic Policy Journal.