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Published: Oct 21, 2016 2 min read
Douliery Olivier—Sipa USA

There is always an uptick in anxiety and uncertainty during a presidential election year: After all, there's a chance that the person you prefer to be the country's next leader will not win—and that you'll have to put up with four years (at least) with someone you loathe as president.

It's largely because of such uncertainty and tension that something we might call the Election Year Effect takes place. For example, election years generally coincide with increased spending on Halloween (for the sake of escapism), as well as a decrease in home purchases (because of a reluctance to drop big bucks when so much is up in the air). During the especially tense and coarse Trump-Clinton election year of 2016, the campaign's effect on a wide range of issues and industries may be particularly YUUUGE, as Donald Trump might put it.

Here are some surprising ways that election years—and the ugly election year of 2016 in particular—are credited with having an impact.