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Luxembourg: Nation of Drunks?
While reading about the UK's imminent expansion of pub hours, I was intrigued by the Institute for Alcohol's study of alcohol consumption. You can see their comparative analysis he http://www.ias.org.uk/factsheets/harm-ukeu.pdf (It's a PDF. You need Adobe Acrobat reader to view it. If you don't have Adobe Acrobat reader, you can damn well Google it. I mean, who the **** doesn't have Acrobat nowadays?) So anyway, still leading the pack with the world's highest per capita consumption of alcohol is little Luxembourg. They literally shame the US and Canada, and even manage to make the UK and Germany look like amateurs. How do they do it? Luxembourg is an enigma to me. Nestled between France and Germany, with no seaport whatsoever, one might assume that they are doomed. But the *******s have a stunning GDP, low unemployment and a stable democracy. What gives, O' Luxembourg? I think I may have to go there one day and shake hands with some truly world-class tipplers. And Mexico! What happened to mighty Mexico? Their alcohol consumption levels are in the basement! I guess all those presumptive images of a fat Mexican snoozing under a sombrero with an empty bottle of cerveza in his hand are utterly shattered by the cold sober reality of Mexico's dry, dry national identity. Who'dathunkit? The IAS mentions some meaningful consumption habits that tend to skew the total consumption picture. For instance, France has higher numbers than the UK, but the French tend to drink daily and with moderation, while the Brits drink themselves stupid at the weekend. They have similar annual consumption numbers, but the actual level of alcoholic damage is not quite the same. This is all very interesting to me, particularly America's place somewhere in the mediocre middle of alcoholic depravity. I now think an interesting holiday may be one week in Mexico followed by one week in Luxembourg. Either way, Salud and Prost! - TR |
#2
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Luxembourg: Nation of Drunks?
Citizen Ted wrote:
While reading about the UK's imminent expansion of pub hours, I was intrigued by the Institute for Alcohol's study of alcohol consumption. You can see their comparative analysis he http://www.ias.org.uk/factsheets/harm-ukeu.pdf (It's a PDF. You need Adobe Acrobat reader to view it. If you don't have Adobe Acrobat reader, you can damn well Google it. I mean, who the **** doesn't have Acrobat nowadays?) So anyway, still leading the pack with the world's highest per capita consumption of alcohol is little Luxembourg. They literally shame the US and Canada, and even manage to make the UK and Germany look like amateurs. How do they do it? Could be based on purchases rather than consumption. People from neighbouring countries may buy booze from Luxembourg because for lower prices. And in Mexico if the booze is made unnofficially it would not show up in the numbers. |
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Luxembourg: Nation of Drunks?
Am Thu, 17 Nov 2005 22:14:16 -0800 schrieb Citizen Ted:
Luxembourg is an enigma to me. Nestled between France and Germany, with no seaport whatsoever, one might assume that they are doomed. But the *******s have a stunning GDP, low unemployment and a stable democracy. What gives, O' Luxembourg? It is a banking haven, lots of companies are based there - can be compared to places like Cayman islands. I think I may have to go there one day and shake hands with some truly world-class tipplers. When I was there a few years ago, I could take a photo of the Grand Duke of Luxemburg, while he was there climbing out of his Rolly Royce (With "1" on the licence-plate) to go into one Hotel to meet up with what looked like an Arab leader. Funny thing, you could walk quite close up and take photos, just a few guards standig around, and some tourists. The city center is very small, so chances are good you literelly bump into someone like this (I was only there for 3 hours on a trip to France when I "bumped" into the Duke). The IAS mentions some meaningful consumption habits that tend to skew the total consumption picture. For instance, France has higher numbers than the UK, but the French tend to drink daily and with moderation, while the Brits drink themselves stupid at the weekend. In France it is common to have a glass of wine or two with your meal, even with lunch. This is all very interesting to me, particularly America's place somewhere in the mediocre middle of alcoholic depravity. I now think an interesting holiday may be one week in Mexico followed by one week in Luxembourg. As someone already mentioned, I think the statistics on Luxemburg is somewhat wrong, as they have big Liquor-stores that cater to foreign tourists. Alcohol is cheaper there than in France or Germany, so people drive over the border to shop. Regards, Frank |
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Luxembourg: Nation of Drunks?
On Fri, 18 Nov 2005 10:38:18 +0100, Martin wrote:
On Thu, 17 Nov 2005 22:14:16 -0800, Citizen Ted wrote: Luxembourg is an enigma to me. Nestled between France and Germany, with no seaport whatsoever, one might assume that they are doomed. But the *******s have a stunning GDP, low unemployment and a stable democracy. What gives, O' Luxembourg? Luxembourg is a home of black money, like Switzerland. But they declare every drop they drink. How about that! -- --- DFM - http://www.deepfriedmars.com --- -- |
#5
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Luxembourg: Nation of Drunks?
In article ,
Martin wrote: On Thu, 17 Nov 2005 22:14:16 -0800, Citizen Ted wrote: Luxembourg is an enigma to me. Nestled between France and Germany, with no seaport whatsoever, one might assume that they are doomed. But the *******s have a stunning GDP, low unemployment and a stable democracy. What gives, O' Luxembourg? Luxembourg is a home of black money, like Switzerland. You mean money laundering for illicit enterprises? |
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Luxembourg: Nation of Drunks?
"A346" wrote in message u...
Citizen Ted wrote: While reading about the UK's imminent expansion of pub hours, I was intrigued by the Institute for Alcohol's study of alcohol consumption. You can see their comparative analysis he http://www.ias.org.uk/factsheets/harm-ukeu.pdf (It's a PDF. You need Adobe Acrobat reader to view it. If you don't have Adobe Acrobat reader, you can damn well Google it. I mean, who the **** doesn't have Acrobat nowadays?) So anyway, still leading the pack with the world's highest per capita consumption of alcohol is little Luxembourg. They literally shame the US and Canada, and even manage to make the UK and Germany look like amateurs. How do they do it? Could be based on purchases rather than consumption. People from neighbouring countries may buy booze from Luxembourg because for lower prices. I doubt that that is the reason. The study looks very detailed and serious in other respects and that would really be a ridiculous beginners mistake. The survey includes many other data on drinking habits that could only really be gleaned by detailed surveys and interviews. What surprised me (amongst other things) was the relatively low per capita consumption in Russia and some Eastern European countries, where according to any number of accounts alcoholism really is rampant and a major social problem. David |
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Luxembourg: Nation of Drunks?
http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/p...4_overview.pdf Shows in table 4 Luxembourg as #6 in the top 20 boozers. In table 3 (total per capita 15+ alcohol consumption) they are even #2. Table 4 does suggest that wine is their top drink though, perhaps it is more a widespread culture of drinking at mealtimes that brings the average up rather than rampant alcoholism. |
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Luxembourg: Nation of Drunks?
On Mon, 21 Nov 2005 22:18:39 +0100, "David Johnstone"
wrote: http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/p...4_overview.pdf Shows in table 4 Luxembourg as #6 in the top 20 boozers. In table 3 (total per capita 15+ alcohol consumption) they are even #2. Table 4 does suggest that wine is their top drink though, perhaps it is more a widespread culture of drinking at mealtimes that brings the average up rather than rampant alcoholism. I heard an interesting statistic recently (from a friend involved in AA). A study in the US showed that 11% of Americans who consume alcohol are deemed "alcoholics", but that these 11% consume as much as 50% of all the alcohol consumed annually! It makes sense that the alky's would be the ones who are statistically packing it away, Thus, it's the alcoholics - not the recreational drinkers - who are driving the consumption stats. Granted, places like Luxembourg likely have more capita consumption because their culture features restrained daily intake by a wider spectrum of the population, whereas the US is more like the UK in their binge drinking. Nonetheless, it's my belief that, for some reason, Luxembourg has unusually high numbers of both social drinkers and raging alcoholics. There's only one way to be sure - I will visit Luxembourg and bring my drinking legs with me. - TR |
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