OPINION:
New academic research correlating a link between unhealthy behaviors and political ideology does not bode well for liberals. A pair of Duquesne University economists conducted an exhaustive study comparing the statistical demand for alcohol with regional political persuasions in all 50 states between 1952-2010.
“In this study, we show that liberal ideology has a statistically significant positive association with the consumption of alcohol in the United States even after controlling for economic, demographic, and geographic differences across states. Holding everything else constant, we find that as states become more liberal over time, they experience higher consumption of beer and spirits per capita,” write Pavel A. Yakovlev and Walter P. Guessford.
Yes, well.
“Our findings are relatively consistent with the recent sociological studies showing that people with more socialist views tend to engage in more unhealthy behaviors such as excessive drinking,” the two note.
“This sociological argument is similar to the theory of moral hazard in economics, which postulates that people may behave irresponsibly when they do not fully bear the cost of their behavior,” they add.
The research was published Thursday in the Journal of Wine Economics, an academic publication.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.