'Get Some Sleep, and Wake Up the GDP'

http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2014/02/get-some-sleep-and-wake-up-the-gdp.html

Feb. 1, 2014

Get Some Sleep, and Wake Up the G.D.P., by Sendhil Mullainathan, Commentary, NY Times: ...Many of us need more sleep. ... What does sleep have to do with economics? Doesn’t it sit squarely in the realm of physiology?

First, the economic consequences of inadequate sleep are surely huge. ... In one month in 2008, a poll showed that 29 percent of workers had fallen asleep or had been very sleepy at work. The effects can add up: one study in Australia calculated the cost of sleeplessness at 0.8 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

Yet even that number, which emphasizes the physical and medical consequences of inadequate sleep, omits the biggest potential impact on the G.D.P. Most of today’s workers rely on their mental and social skills. And if those workers don’t get enough sleep, their lethargy, crankiness and poor decision-making will hurt the economy in assorted and significant ways.

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