

Hangovers Cost the Economy $224 Billion, Says CDC - stevekinney
http://reason.com/blog/2013/07/05/hangovers-cost-the-economy-224-billion-s?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reason%2FHitandRun+%28Reason+Online+-+Hit+%26+Run+Blog%29

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Nursie
Sooo... that sounds like a lot of money. I guess we've got our top guys
working on hangover cures and alternative drugs that give people the buzz they
like without the negatives then?

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ciderpunx
OK, but how much does the economy gain by people discussing work at the pub
the evening before?

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stevekinney
That's a good point. There was a study back in 2006[1] that showed that people
who drank made more money (about 10-14%) at their jobs than non-drinkers and
social drinkers. So, it can me argued that drinking may actually help the
economy as a whole, even if hangovers themselves cause a short term loss in
productivity.

[1]:
[http://reason.org/news/show/127594.html](http://reason.org/news/show/127594.html)

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jiggy2011
Hmm, that seems to say that social drinkers (people who go to bars once per
month) make more.

So it's not really the drinking aspect, it's specifically the socializing
aspect. You could go to bars and drink only non alcoholic drinks and probably
have the same effect, assuming you can still be sociable without alcohol.

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stevekinney
Oh yea, it's totally the socialization aspect. There is a similar study (I
don't have a link off-hand, but it was something covered at length in an
Introduction to Sociology textbook I had years ago) that points out that
people involved in their church communities enjoyed similar benefits to the
drinkers. The key here is socialization. I suspect you don't earn anymore by
getting ripped by yourself in the privacy of your home every night and
subsequently showing up at work with a headache and a sour attitude every
morning.

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Klaughton
What about incremental externalities (late night food delivery,
contraceptives, tobacco sales, transportation, etc...) ... excessive partying
creates jobs, work hard play hard!

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ukoto
What an embarrassing waste of taxpayer money. Perhaps they should study how
much pointless studies cost the economy.

