From Freakonomics:
...A 2004 study by Frank Sloan and Jan Ostermann at Duke University found that heavy drinkers contribute slightly more to Social Security, through their higher average lifetime earnings, than nondrinkers do. What’s more, since alcohol abusers tend to die sooner than moderate or nondrinkers, they draw less money, over time, from the Social Security trust fund.Their conclusion: the elimination of heavy drinking (three or more drinks a day) from each successive group of American 25-year-olds would cost the Social Security trust fund $3 billion over the cohort’s lifetime.
According to the authors:
From the vantage point of society as a whole, heavy drinking redistributes wealth from heavy drinkers to others...MORE
See also:
Is Teaching Financial Literacy a Waste of Time?
