Should We Make Daylight Saving Time Permanent?

Any time there's a conflict between any of those personality traits and their opposite, the the people in the former group will win out over time, unless the trade-offs are stark enough to force an equalization no matter peoples' preferences. It's especially apparent in success of companies, because the competitive nature of an open market allows for changes much faster than the more stringent controls of a government operation.

Companies that are worrywarts don't invest in new markets, and go out of business. This was well documented in The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton Christensen. Also, companies that have strict work schedules for office employees that otherwise do not have a scheduled meeting don't attract enough productive employees and do not get as much out of their employees. Those companies are outpaced by those with accommodating schedules. Something similar is happening with strict requirements on where someone works, for example requiring employees to work in an office even when no one they collaborate with works in the same office.

Daylight savings time is a bit slower to change, due to the literal act of congress required, but forcing early-birdism is something we've tried in the past, and completely failed at, nearly 50 years ago, so it's about time we try again, likely with the same outcome as the negative effects are very clear. We aren't like to switch permanent standard time, as the people who prefer it aren't as forceful as those who prefer not to have it, but if we did most of the negative effects of permanent daylight savings time would be reversed, so we could actually keep it.

Here's a study that demonstrates this by comparing the sleep quality and health outcomes of people who live on the eastern edge vs. the western edge of a time zone: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S01676... . People on the western edge (sunrise goes later) get on average 19 fewer minutes of sleep per night, are more likely to be sleep deprived, and are more likely to face negative health outcomes associated with circadian rhythm disruption.

Still, if the US ever abandons the switch, the government will always pick permanent DST over permanent standard time. The economy goes before every other concern, and permanent DST helps to promote evening shopping.