If You Need Me, I'll Be in the Bar...

From The Wall Street Journal

Drink More, Earn More (& Give More)

By ARTHUR C. BROOKS
July 13, 2005; Page A14

W.C. Fields once recommended, "Always carry a flagon of whiskey in case of snakebite and furthermore always carry a small snake." Traditionally, practical rationales for drinking were unconvincing, at best. More recently, however, alcohol's reputation has improved as new benefits from drinking have come to light. Best known are the studies showing the health benefits of moderate alcohol use. It is now so well established that it is almost a cliché that red wine lowers the risk of heart disease. A new study by researchers at the National Cancer Institute also claims that drinkers may have a lower risk of lymphoma than nondrinkers.

Economists assert that benefits from alcohol are also financial, showing that moderate drinking is associated with higher earnings. If two workers are identical in education, age, and other characteristics except that the first has a couple of beers each night after work while the second is a teetotaler, the first will tend to enjoy a "drinker's bonus" in the range of 10% to 25% higher wages...

...indeed, moderate drinkers tend to be more charitable than nondrinkers...

...Shakespeare's Pericles warned that, one sin "another doth provoke." In the case of booze, however, the good news is that one sin a few virtues doth provoke.

As Lincoln said when he was warned that Grant was an alcoholic: "Then buy all of my Generals some whiskey."