Does watching the World Cup drain our economy?

With more than three billion people tuned in to at least some of the matches -- most of them during working hours in North America -- there are concerns about what the World Cup does to productivity.

...and employers are stuck trying to decide how to handle employees whose commitment to their work may wane depending on the excitement in Brazil.

But not everyone agrees that the World Cup is an expensive distraction.

People do have much more flexible schedules now. They can plan around sporting events like this and make up for lost output later on.Stan Veuger, economist, American Enterprise Institute

We also hear about a Toronto-based company that decided to bring their office a little closer to the goalposts, and what new work in the field of neuroscience could tell us about distraction and productivity.

To discuss, we were joined by four guests:

• Peter Machalek is a Senior Partner at AdBloc Media, a Toronto-based advertising and media company.
• John Challenger is the CEO of the out-placement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas.
• Stan Veuger is an economist with the American Enterprise Institute.
• Kalina Christoff is the Director of the Cognitive Neuroscience of Thought Laboratory at the University of British Columbia.

How has the World Cup affected your productivity?

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This segment was produced by The Current's Gord Westmacott.