Nate Silver, over at FiveThirtyEight.com, points out that whereas sales of beer have generally been relatively unaffected by economic conditions, the current financial situation led to a rather dramatic decrease in beer sales in late 2008:
I don’t have any sociological point here. I just think it’s interesting, and since I thought so, I thought I’d make you look at it too. Nate Silver (who I have a bit of a geek crush on) hazards a few theories (in particular, perhaps people are substituting cheaper beers for more expensive ones, meaning they’re drinking as much or more, but spending less); it’s worth checking his post out.
As I said, absolutely no point to this post other than “Huh. Look at that.”
Comments 11
eruvande — February 19, 2009
I'd like to see whether a similar graph for hard liquor sales will show a spike where the beer graph shows a plunge.
Kristin — February 19, 2009
Everyone has a crush (geek or otherwise) on Nate Silver. He's the unsung hero of the election.
Penny — February 19, 2009
Sign me up for the fan club too. I want some sparkly "I Heart Nate" stickers and a pin for my backpack, please.
chuk — February 19, 2009
I've noticed that a lot of folks I know tend to be treating beer as a luxury item. It's one of the first things to get cut back on when money is short (this, of course, excludes a few chronic alcoholics).
I think beer has gotten more expensive over the years, especially if you drink out. Conceivably, if prices rose, but actual units sold dropped, my theory could explain that graph. It's a long shot though ;)
Also, I think the connection between "I'm bumbed, let's drink" is becoming less socially acceptable. This is generally met with a: "Well, that's when you know your an alcoholic." This could abet the trend I mention above.
Hahahahah. Oh this is fun.
T B — February 20, 2009
Like "eruvande", I wonder whether there's more hard drinking going on these days.
I can tell you that I heard stats (via TV journalism) around Christmas which indicated that people were buying cheaper alcoholic drinks more, while sales of the more expensive alcoholic drinks had gone down. The stats may have only been about Ontario, Canada, and I think beer might have been (largely?) out of the equation.
(OK, so I can't tell you much, ultimately.)
T B — February 20, 2009
Hey,
I'd be interested in seeing a graph of how the smile trainer has been selling -
http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2008/12/24/smile-trainer-for-the-future-beauty-queen/
(Kidding.)
John — February 20, 2009
I used to be a Miller Lite beer drinker whenever I'd drink, but during the high gas prices last year, all goods raised their prices due to the price of shipping to the stores. For some reason, these prices have remained high. For example, Miller Lite used to be around $5.99 per six pack, and now it is $6.99-7.99.
Consequently, I've switched to a budget beer that goes for $7.49 for a 12 pack.
John — February 20, 2009
^I just wanted to point out I drink beer maybe twice a week at most and not in excess (1-2 beers). This seems to be the same trend (economically) with other people I know that drink beer socially or otherwise.
T B — February 20, 2009
At the moment there's an ad at the side of my Facebook page with this heading -
"Beer Drinkers Needed"
Sociological Images » Job Loss in 100 Largest U.S. Metropolitan Areas — June 17, 2009
[...] by state, unemployment rates by county, video on the credit crisis, framing the stimulus package, beer consumption, the New York Post monkey cartoon, a graph of job losses, gender and job loss, unsold cars, [...]
Anonymous — December 23, 2009
I hope the increasing use of Cannabis wipes out alcohol from the face of the Earth . This would result in less crime , less accidents , less drunk driving , more productivity , less family and spousal abuse , less lies .....and a safer sane World