Here are some effects that could arise from implementing what you propose: - Nightlife businesses (bars, pubs, dance clubs, live music, comedy shows, etc) are decimated, as people are either working or patronizing the banks etc. And these can’t shift to being open during the day, cause THOSE people are now working, and in many places there is legislation for times when a business can serve alcohol, so many places would have to shut down. - Rush hour doubles in frequency (so you have an 8am rush hour, and then a 5pm double rush hour, and then a late night rush hour). Sure, it will reduce in size, but doubling in frequency is much worse than having one big rush hour period, as now the roads are congested more often. - Half the world would be night people and half would be morning people. Television ratings would go down since people watch at different times, Tivo use would skyrocket, and people usually fast forward through Tivo’d commercials if they can, so overall television ad revenue decreases substantially as well, most TV ad deals are priced based on viewership of the live (first broadcast) show, so lower viewership means lower asking prices means less ads being bought which is pretty much the only thing propping broadcast TV up nowadays. - Since half of people are awake at night and half are awake during the day, car accidents overall would go up as the chances of a driver being tired while traffic volume is high increases. - The stock market as it stands now would simply not work, it would break. This is a huge point. As far as I can tell, the ONLY benefit gained by changing the business hours is flexibility of when you can buy a stamp or visit your doctor. Clearly the benefits do not outweigh the problems that would be caused by this. There’s also a few key points you’ve missed: working people also work at businesses. What about a bank investor, would he work in the AM or PM? He has to know how the bank is doing daily, but he also has to be able to invest those funds when the market is open and thriving. Not to mention you’re only switching the open-hours problem to another sector of working people, now the restaurant owner can’t go to the bank cause it’s not open when he needs it to be, and no offense meant but a restaurant owner is more of a valuable banking customer than you or me or other single person accounts (unless you’re a millionaire). Plus, I wouldn’t work in a place that I had to work over the weekend, just so that other people could patronize the business. Then I can’t enjoy the fun nightlife, well whatever amount of it is left. I know I’m not the only person, so these night businesses would have to pay more to entice people to work there, and that cost is passed right along to the consumer through price or fee increases. No, while it’s uncomfortable the way it is now, it really IS the best solution. The closest thing we can get to making it better is either talking to companies and encouraging more open hours, or through using the Internet. Now I only physically go into a bank when I need to deposit a cheque and that can be done through an ATM that’s open all the time. Post office, that’s a bit trickier, but I honestly can’t remember the last time I sent a package so I can use a vacation day if I really needed to.