The Snowstorm Economy

Former Planet Money intern, Devin Dwyer, has a nice piece up over at ABC news today about how taxpayers may be impacted by Washington's third straight snow day:

Office of Personnel Management chief John Berry, who decides when to close the federal government, has said each snow day costs taxpayers an estimated $100 million in work government employees don't do.

Federal workers are still paid for the unanticipated days off due to weather. Other government shutdowns — such as the six-day closure in November 1995 during a budget dispute in Congress — furloughed non-essential workers, thereby saving taxpayers money.

All that fluffy white stuff has also hurt local governments who are quickly blowing through their snow removal budgets. Virginia has already exhausted its funds for the season plus a $25 million emergency reserve, and the District of Columbia is also over budget.

 

Of course, the continuing snowfall is good for some business owners. ABC talked to Mark Schneider, co-owner of Schoenberg Salt Company, one of the largest distributors of bulk de-icing chemicals in the Northeast:

"January was a very slow month; now February flipped completely the other way. Is this a record year? No, not yet. But business has definitely been strong."

Schneider says his company, which typically imports 500 to 600 truckloads of rock salt each winter from South American suppliers, is receiving calls around the clock from the states of Maryland and Virginia asking for additional de-icing supplies.

For now, he says happily, the company has been able to fill those orders. But if the latest storm is as bad as forecasters predict — dumping 10 to 20 inches of snow from the mid-Atlantic into New England — existing supplies may reach a "tipping point."

Here in New York, I can tell you it's a very quiet day on Mulberry Street, a tourist mecca known for its numerous Italian restaurants.