WASHINGTON—Concluding that the patriotic gesture was a significant drain on the country’s resources, a new report out Monday from researchers at Georgetown University found that the U.S. economy loses $5 billion every year to Americans rising for the national anthem.
“According to our estimates, standing for ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ is draining our economy of $5 billion that would otherwise be earned from spectators checking important emails or going to the concession stand to buy another soft pretzel,” said economist Roland Mussa, whose calculations determined the average American spent nearly seven hours a year moving from standing to sitting and another 20 hours attempting to remove their hats.
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