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Beware Olympic Gold Medals: They Can Depress the Stock Market

creativecommons.org

Economists have long suspected that the Olympics can induce a feel-good effect that results in an economic boost. But a new study suggests there’s something else going on, as well.

Yes, people purchase items from sponsor companies, and that creates revenue. But it appears that, in addition to the feel-good effect, the Olympics, particularly gold medals, have a distracting effect that can actually lower trade volumes on the stock market the following day. The strength of the distraction effect varies from sport to sport, and country to country. It’s particularly strong in the U.S. Go figure.

 

 

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Elsa Partan is a producer and newscaster with CAI. She first came to the station in 2002 as an intern and fell in love with radio. She is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. From 2006 to 2009, she covered the state of Wyoming for the NPR member station Wyoming Public Media in Laramie. She was a newspaper reporter at The Mashpee Enterprise from 2010 to 2013. She lives in Falmouth with her husband and two daughters.