Economics of Drinking

Pareto Law is a little known principle applicable to multiple disciplines. It is better known as the 80-20 rule: 80% of the effects comes from 20% of causes, or 20% of workers in an organization perform 80% of the work. 

What does this have to do with alcohol consumption? Everything, of course. 20% of Americans consume 80% of alcohol sold in the U.S. 

Check out this graphic.

Shockingly, 10% of Americans (24 million people over the age of 18) drink over 50% of all alcohol consumed in America. That averages out to 10 drinks per day or nearly 74 drinks a week (2 bottles of wine a day, or 18 bottles of wine or three 24-cases of beer per week).

These statistics are from Paying the Tab: The Costs and Benefits of Alcohol Control by Philip Cook, a professor of Public Policy at Duke. And, I have not read the book yet.

Here are some more fascinating bits from the book which used data from a national survey that took place between 2001 and 2005: 

• 30% of Americans don't drink at all. 
• 30% of Americans drink at least one drink a day 
• 20% drink at least two a day. (BTW, low-risk or moderate drinking falls somewhere between the two.) 

And according to the CDC excessive drinking costs us $223.5 billion in 2006, or about $1.90
per drink.

Definitely more to come on this fascinating topic...