Why Aren't We All Rich??

[robbyvirus]

Just saw this story today...WOOHOO! We're gonna be rich!

Alcohol use helps boost income: study

Thu Sep 14, 6:44 AM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - People who consume alcohol earn significantly more at their jobs than non-drinkers, according to a US study that highlighted "social capital" gained from drinking.

The study published in the Journal of Labor Research Thursday concluded that drinkers earn 10 to 14 percent more than teetotalers, and that men who drink socially bring home an additional seven percent in pay.

"Social drinking builds social capital," said Edward Stringham, an economics professor at San Jose State University and co-author of the study with fellow researcher Bethany Peters.

"Social drinkers are out networking, building relationships, and adding contacts to their BlackBerries that result in bigger paychecks."

The authors acknowledged their study, funded by the Reason Foundation, a libertarian think tank, contradicted research released in 2000 by the Harvard School of Public Health.

"We created our hypothesis through casual observation and examination of scholarly accounts," the authors said.

"Drinkers typically tend to be more social than abstainers."

The researchers said their empirical survey backed up the theory, and said the most likely explanation is that drinkers have a wider range of social contacts that help provide better job and business opportunities.

"Drinkers may be able to socialize more with clients and co-workers, giving drinkers an advantage in important relationships," the researchers said.

"Drinking may also provide individuals with opportunities to learn people, business, and social skills."

They also said these conclusions provide arguments against policies aimed at curbing alcohol use on university campuses and public venues.

"Not only do anti-alcohol policies reduce drinkers' fun, but they may also decrease earnings," the study said.

"One of the unintended consequences of alcohol restrictions is that they push drinking into private settings. This occurred during the Alcohol Prohibition of 1920-1933 and is happening on college campuses today. By preventing people from drinking in public, anti-alcohol policies eliminate one of the most important aspects of drinking: increased social capital."

The researchers found some differences in the economic effects of drinking among men and women. They concluded that men who drink earn 10 percent more than abstainers and women drinkers earn 14 percent more than non-drinkers.

However, unlike men, who get a seven percent income boost from drinking in bars, women who frequent bars at least once per month do not show higher earnings than women drinkers who do not visit bars.

"Perhaps women increase social capital apart from drinking in bars," the researchers said in an effort to explain the gender gap.

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Original link:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060914/hl_afp/afplifestylehealthalcohol_060914104441

[FlashPuppy]

Hey, I'll take any exscuse that I can get!!! No, but seriously, it makes sense. I really liked that article, provides scientific proof of some of things I have always felt.

[Sijan]

best. study. ever.

read it directly for yourself:

No Booze? You May Lose:

Why Drinkers Earn More Money Than Nondrinkers

http://www.reason.org/pb44.pdf

[TimmyBoston]

best. study. ever.

I heartily concur.

[jspero]

I heartily concur.

Ditto. Now if I could just convice my wife that the more I drink, the richer we'll be...

Jay

[ratcheer]

Everyone, please notice, they are not just talking about how much you drink, but about drinking in connection with being out among people: social networking.

I hate bars and I do most of my drinking at home, so this info is of little encouragement, to me. Except as an admonishment to get out there and start mixing with people more often.

Tim

[robbyvirus]

Everyone, please notice, they are not just talking about how much you drink, but about drinking in connection with being out among people: social networking.

So then we all need to go to the bourbon festival for our own financial well-being.

[FlashPuppy]

So then we all need to go to the bourbon festival for our own financial well-being.

That's what I'm hearin...

[Black85L98]

I'm going to drink up a raise.

[TimmyBoston]

Why Aren't We All Rich?

It's because we're all spending out paychecks on bourbon and sitting at home enjoying them instead of out at the bars and Social Networking.

I think so many of us are here because we're sick of bars. We'd rather just enjoy and bourbon and communicate with others who feel the same way no matter how impersonal that communication may be.

[pepcycle]

I may not have as much money as I did before I started collecting bourbon, but I'm definitely richer.

[cowdery]

This may be as good a place as any to point out something very remarkable that has happened here; an "impersonal" form of communication (this bulletin board) has developed into a genuine community that for a large percentage of its participants has a non-cyber dimension. The Bardstown gatherings in September and April, which certainly are "social networking" opportunities, are only part of the story. There are many local groups of people around the country who met each other through this forum and who now periodically socialize in person.

When this form of "social networking" was in its infancy, many people speculated that communities formed in cyberspace would subsequently manifest themselves in traditional ways, but equal numbers speculated that it wouldn't happen, that cyberspace would lead to increasing physical isolation. This group provides evidence for the former, not the latter.

That there are members who only are able, or willing, to participate non-corporeally does not change the fact that this community has developed a richness that exists in many spheres.