Wondering why the British keep their monarchy around while they attempt to set up democracies abroad? Perhaps it’s to give the government another fiscal tool to deal with economic downturns. You can read more over here but while a £1 billion boost sounds good it’s not as simple as it looks. The wedding day has been declared a national holiday and this means lost economic output. And then there’s the cost of the wedding itself, a bill sent directly to the British taxpayers. The overall impact is unclear but, as the authors of the article note, some are hoping that between this and the 2012 Olympics, the United Kingdom will benefit from a sustained boost in tourism.

Via: Freakonomics

Source: The National