[ClearCase_guy]

I find it odd that in a time of stress and unemployment, the pubs are empty.

[patton]

That is wierd - usually, booze is recession proof. One of the “Sin Stocks.”

In good times, people buy expensive booze - in bad, the rotgut.

[Trailerpark Badass]

I haven’t been to England in 15 years, but it seemed that pubs were catering to an older crowd and seen as more stodgy and uncool. the young folks were going to clubs and discos.

[Cincinatus]

The price of beer in the UK has gone through the roof -- you're lucky if you can find a pint for 4 pounds or so (that's almost $6 a glass). Not to mention shortened pub hours such that when you feel like a drink, you have to go looking for a pub that's open.

The pub as an English institution is almost dead. The pub owners and breweries killed it.