The more you drink, the more you make

National Post ^ | 4/17/02 | Mary Vallis

[Hawkeye's Girl]

It works for James Bond.

[badfreeper]

Was the Premier of Alberta part of the control group?

[TheCPA]

I think the researcher got the direction of causation wrong in this research. Alcohol is expensive. A more plausible hypothesis is that the more income one has, the more one drinks.

[Go Gordon]

The more alcohol you drink, the more successful you seem to be, according to research in Alberta.

Bull. When I made less money I drank the same as I do now, but I bought what I could afford. I said goodbye to Old Milwaukee and Meisterbrau 20 years ago. Now its Fosters and Corona. And now that the warm weather is upon us, a little Southern Comfort on the rocks is a nice way to take the edge off.

[The Green Goblin]

Wow, that means that all the drunks on the street corners here in Boulder must really be filthy rich!

[gdani]

"Just call me Bill Gates"

[Rodney King]

The issue is this:

Smarter people make more. Smarter people drink more. Therefore drinking is positively correlated with making money.

The reason for this is simple.

Machines which burn hot and work all day need more lubrication than machines which sort of put around at low RPMs.

In my case, I need to lubricate my brain at the end of every day to keep it in top working condition. Others only need to once a week.

Of course, one can over-lubricate an engine, and blow a gasket. Sometimes they are repairable after a few days or weeks rest. Other times they are sent to a place called Alcoholics Anonymous, where machines that have no hope of repair go to learn to deal with life as a broken machine.

[Wm Bach]

...water. The more you make water.

[Protagoras]

People who drink are exposed to more opportunities for profitable activites. They network more than people who go straight home. Personal obsevation.

[Leisler]

Always denigh them your precious bodily fluids.

[callisto]

May I assume that the researchers determined the subjects worth before they spent their $$$ on alcohol?

[billbears]

"Suppose we ran out and crunched the numbers and found that heavy drinkers made 20% less than moderate drinkers. Then we would conclude, 'Heavy drinking causes a 20% decrease in wages, this is one more reason we should tax and regulate alcohol.'

It's a way to gather more taxes

[LarryLied]

A plot by the liberal Canadian government to increase revenue from alcohol taxes. Next month they'll put one out saying booze and smoking lead to a better sex life.

[Physicist]

"Suppose we ran out and crunched the numbers and found that heavy drinkers made 20% less than moderate drinkers. Then we would conclude, 'Heavy drinking causes a 20% decrease in wages, this is one more reason we should tax and regulate alcohol.'

"If we naively applied that reasoning to the results we actually find, we would conclude the government should go out and subsidize binge drinking behaviour, which is probably not what we actually want to do."

Dishonest. There's no logical reason why the recommendations should not be symmetric. The only difference is that we're biased to believe that drinking is bad for you.

[Gabz]

Next month they'll put one out saying booze and smoking lead to a better sex life.

ROFLMAO - I also had to clean my monitor cause I spit my beer all over it reading your comment!!!!

[daviddennis]

My sexy ex-girlfriend was a bit of a lush; in fact, getting drunk took a lot of the rough edges off her personality.

I'm a non-drinker who hates the taste of alcohol, and have found (through trying drinking upon her urging) that it makes me feel depressed and meloncholy. Not a good thing.

As a result, I don't deal well with bars, and bars are the way many people relax and let their hair down. This has not been good for my social life at all.

So yes, I think I would be happier if I enjoyed alcohol - and maybe even more successful since a lack of networking chutzpah is one of my major deficiencies.

D

[christine]

that sounds highly plausible ;)