Monday, March 28, 2011
How Gay Marriage is Good for the Economy
No matter what your politics are or your beliefs on if gay marriage is right, studies by the Williams institute has proven that if all 50 states in the U.S. would allow same sex marriage, the federal government will benefit almost $1 billion a year. The number of marriages will start off very high but even once they taper off they will be accepted to stay at the same rate as their heterosexual counter parts. Estimates claim that 10% of all Americans are gay. This number might seem low but not when you add in the numbers. According to the Wedding Professional International, the wedding industry in the U.S. forks in a whopping $86 Billion a year without including honeymoons and other expenses. And let's not forget the pre marriage costs. Just adding on the costs of the previous 6 months brings the total to $120 billion. Now add the 10% that is that of the Homosexuals. The reception site, jewerlers vacation sites, photohraphers, restaurants, and etc. benefit from this. And let's not forget the tax revenue and the marriage license fees. Acording to Wiliam Institute the taxes and licenses would bring in $63 million alone. No matter your belief on the issue, you can fight the number.
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Even though i am a strong republican and am one hundred and ten percent against gay marriage, i do believe that gay marriages would help out the economy. More homosexuals would "come out of the closet" and propose to someone to get married. This would lead to many more prices of marriage going up making the value of gay marriage a larger sum. The economy would have more money and would without a doubt benefit from this. My opinion is even though I don’t think gay marriage is completely right, it would help out the government by almost a billion dollars a year. Not only would the Government get benefits but the government might be able to help us if we help them in this sort of way with more money going their way.
ReplyDeleteClearly the wedding industry takes in a very large profit each year. Having more marriages would naturally allow for more money to stream through the economy. I agree that if all states aloud gay marriage it would help out the economy. It would allow the government to benefit from the profit and in-tern help many people across the country. Gay marriage is a very fragile topic to begin with. People have their own opinions on what they think is right and wrong and this is perfectly natural, however unless it concerns that person individually I don't feel as though they have the right to judge people who are different than they are. I personally feel that everybody should be treated equal.
ReplyDeleteAnd I think that it shows a lot about a persons character as to what they believe and how they feel towards this controversial topic. I think it is a shame that people are judged for being who they are and one would think that being part of america would inspire people to not judge people who are different than themselves. No matter what YOU believe, this is definitely something to think about. Imagine if you were the one on the outside.
Alex Y.
I agree with this article’s point about how the legalization of gay marriage would lead to more money for marriage related businesses such as Hotels, Jewelers, and stores that sell reception related products. It also provides yet another reason why gay marriage should be legalized, (I personally believe that everyone has the right to marry and gay marriage should be legalized even if it were to have no economic benefits) I believe this article provides yet another reason why gay marriage should be legalized to those who are on the fence about supporting this issue over rather or not we should give equal rights to everyone. The legalization of gay marriages would also account for huge financial benefits for stores and the government though marriage licenses fees, during it’s first few years because there will be a greater number of gay couples seeking marriage, including those who have been in “partnerships” for decades. Though I agree with your view that on how gay marriage would create large economic benefits, I disagree with your view that something should be made legal just because it would make more money, I personally believe the legalization of these things should be based on rather you think it is right or wrong. I was also surprised to learn that 10% of all Americans are homosexual, which would be over 30 million people.
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ReplyDeleteI think the numbers given are very farfetched in the sense that these estimates are recorded in hopes that every homosexual couple will openly engage in marriage. It should be looked at more realistically and economically. As Will said, it is a great factor to keep in mind that not every couple will get legally married based on fear of criticism from family, friends, or work opportunities. Yes, economically gay marriage would add to the revenue of any marriage planners or any other company involved in a marriage ceremony but so would any increase in supply of potential couples. Demand for such ceremonies would obviously increase as well if every single state we’re to legalize this law. The wedding industry would gain supply of couples and demand of their services very soon after the legalization and the numbers would rise quickly. Assuming there was no price floor, the industry would no doubt take advantage of the rising numbers in supply and demand to increase revenue while fixed and variable costs remained the same. This would allow for high net revenue as would any other increase in supply or demand in this field. Based on this conclusion, I feel that it would clearly raise the overall revenue of wedding industries but not by staggering prices.
ReplyDeleteLike George said I am also strongly against gay marriage but I do see your point about how its legalization would give our economy a boost. There would be a increase in the quantity demanded for the goods and services sorrounded the aspects of planning and taking part of a wedding. However I think the estimate made in the article is a little above the mark than what should be expected due to the fact most gay marriages are done in secret due to embarassment or an attempt to hide it from thier families. This would result in probably a little less extravagent weddings and less use of the services and good associated with weddings.
ReplyDeleteLike George and Will I am not someone who completely believes that being gay is necessarily right but I do not believe that they are inhumane. But as time has gone on more and more homosexual people are coming out of the closet. Since wedding expenses can get very high, the profit from it can help the economy even just a little bit. If America wants to increase profit in the wedding industry, allowing gay people to get married in all states would come with a lot of side effects. America has to be prepared to accept homosexuals openly so that they will feel comfortable to come out and have a large wedding. Like Will said most gay marriages are done privately because of embarrassment, but if they do become more comfortable there will be larger wedding taking place which would increase the demand for wedding products and also an increase in profit for the companies selling those products. I also agree with Andrew Velvin in that laws should be made because people feel that something is right rather than if something will help make money. Even though legalizing gay marriage would help the economy I don’t think it would be best for the country to do so because so many people are against it.
ReplyDeleteI am a supporter of gay marriage and gay rights, even if I weren’t I don’t think anyone could argue with these numbers. I think that since we are in a recession this would help us take a big step out of getting out of the recession, the problem is not everyone will agree with this, no matter what the circumstances or the numbers are. I do not think society as a whole is capable of making a decision, and that is what democracy is for, but this is such a hot topic that if gay marriage did get passed through legislation it would make many people furious (and obviously that would not end well). Although allowing gay marriage will not make a huge impact, I think that every little step counts and we should take what we can because we don’t know when our next option will become available. I agree with Alex that this would allow for more money from marriages to go through the economy and that it would allow the government to make a profit. I also agree that even if this would not be beneficial to our economy, it should be legalized, but I think that this is a fragile topic and everyone has their own opinion.
ReplyDelete-Analisa
Since this is a blog about economics and not political views I will be talking about the numbers in which the article talks about. I agree that the possibility of legalizing gay marriage can be helpful to the economy as indicated in the aticle above. People believe that their wedding day is one of the most important days of their life, therefore, there isn't much holding back when it comes to spending money. Many businesses benefit from weddings such as: Caterers, bakers, locations, tailors, etc. Weddings are a good help to the economy, and more weddings means more money. It won't make a huge difference but it is still a step.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Addie, for focusing your comments on the economic thinking in this post. Though I acknowledge each commenter's right to speak freely, I would remind students that the purpose of this forum is to engage in deliberative dialogue regarding the mindset of economics. And also, the first sentence of The Parish Way calls for students to show respect. Please stay mindful of these important expectations.
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