GTA VI probably won’t cost the U.S. economy $1 billion—and economists say it wouldn’t matter if it did
Source: Fortune ·
Workers may take time off for Grand Theft Auto VI’s launch, and a viral headline says it'll cost the economy $1 billion—but that doesn't add up.
From the source
There are a few occasions when requesting time off is warranted: The birth of a child, a much-needed staycation, a once-in-a-lifetime concert. Maybe you’ve exaggerated being sick to enjoy some time at the beach or a last-minute museum day. Or maybe you’ve skipped work to play the year’s most hotly-anticipated video game. Workers are booking time off for the Nov. 19 release of Grand Theft Auto VI, and one widely shared estimate cited by the International Business Times put the cost to the U.S. economy at $1 billion in a single day. But is the country really going to lose that much economic output because of a video game? Victor Matheson, an economist at the College of the Holy Cross who studies sports and major events, disputes that number. “But even if it were true, it’s not necessarily a bad thing if people are happier,” he said. “And it’s pretty tiny in the big picture anyway.” The broader point is that estimates about lost productivity—whether from the Super Bowl, or the latest…