Drinking our way to prosperity

Since the global economy began to tank last fall, governments all over the world have been spending vast amounts of money in order to get out of the current recession that, as we are constantly being told, is the worst recession since the Great Depression that began in 1929. Nowhere is this spending more notable than in the United States where the word “trillion” has entered the everyday lexicon. There is even some talk about “quadrillions” which in the U.S. means one thousand trillion dollars. The amounts of money that governments are now spending are simply unfathomable.

---

There is some logic to the Keynesian theory that governments should increase spending during recessionary times. This spending helps overcome what is known as the paradox of thrift; if an individual reduces spending and saves more, he or she is better off. But if everyone reduces spending and chooses to save, the entire economy collapses. But even the Keynesian model doesn’t justify the overspending that is currently taking place. If spending were the answer to our economic woes, given what Canadian and U.S. governments have done in recent years, we never should have gone into recession in the first place. All of which brings us to booze. The University of Victoria Centre for Addictions Research of B.C. (CARBC) recently conducted a telephone survey of 14,000 Canadians. Among their findings was that 10% of people drink over one half (53%) of all the alcohol consumed. Needless to say, the researchers and other health officials found that this was a problem for those 10% who are doing a lot to stimulate that sector of the economy that deals with the consumption of beer, wine and liquor. Anyone who even has a passing acquaintance knows with alcoholic beverages knows that booze ain’t cheap. Taxes on alcohol are higher than that place on most other goods and services and therefore someone who spends an evening at the local pub injects more money into the economy than someone who stays at home and reads a book. We really shouldn’t worry about the 10% of big spending Canadians who drink over half of the liquor, beer and wine that is consumed in Canada. If governments can spend their way into prosperity, then ordinary Canadians should be able to drink their way into that same prosperity. We should really be concerned about the 90% of Canadians, who, in the parlance of the day are not doing their “fair share” to help the struggling economy. In Ontario we know that the province’s finance minister would no doubt agree. On March 31, the so-called “Sunshine List” was released, naming the Ontario civil servants who made more than $100,000 in 2008. There were 53,500 civil servants on the list; an increase of 11,500 from the preceding year. Finance Minister Dwight Duncan thought that this was a good thing; the more money these civil servants make, the more money they have to spend. And the more that they spend the better the economy will do. It wouldn’t be surprising if the Ontario government was thinking of doubling or tripling these salaries; all in the name of stimulating the economy. Dwight Duncan must be right; after all, he’s the Minister of Finance. So if those 90% of Canadians from the CARBC study would only begin to drink like the other 10%, our economic problems would be over. More drinking means more bars, more restaurants, more liquor, beer and wine outlets and more jobs. Those who work in the hospitality industry would make more money and then spend their newfound wealth and thus help the economy recover in the same way that overpaid civil servants are now doing. Sure there will be downsides. There will be more drunks that will be unable to work. But, since they will be too drunk or hung over to look for a job, they will stop being counted in the unemployment statistics; between that and the new jobs created by increased jobs selling and serving booze, the unemployment rate will fall. If we ever expect the economy to recover the 90% of Canadians who aren’t drinking enough are just going to have to step up to the plate and imbibe. Let’s have a toast and begin to drink our way to prosperity. Like the current spending plans that many governments have, having the whole country drink the same amounts as those 10% might not work. But we at least have to try.

---