The lovely tale of Liquor
during Lockdown and before
At every stage, addiction is driven by one of the most powerful, mysterious, and
vital forces of human existence. What drives addiction is longing —
a longing not just of brain, belly, or loins but finally of the heart.
Cornelius Platinga
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The use of alcohol in India for drinking purposes dates back to somewhere between 3000 and 2000 BC. An alcoholic beverage called Sura which was distilled from the rice was popular at that time in India for common men to unwind at the end of a stressful day. . Yet the first mention of Alcohol appears in Rig Veda (1700BC). It mentions intoxicants like soma and prahamana. Although the soma plant might not exist today, it was famous for delivering a euphoric high. It was also recorded in the Samhita, the medical compendium of Sushruta that he who drinks soma will not age and will be impervious to fire, poison, or weapon attack. The sweet juice of Soma was also said to help establish a connection with the gods. Such was the popularity of alcohol. Initially used for medicinal purposes, with time it evolved and became the beverage that brought life to social gatherings, and eventually consuming alcohol has become a habit for many.
With such a rich history of not just humans but also of the gods,
what is a worldwide pandemic to stop anybody from drinking?
. . .
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According to a report released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2018, an average Indian drinks approximately 5.7 liters of alcohol every year. In a population of casual and excessive drinkers, with the shutters of liquor stores down, it must have been extremely difficult for “certain” people to survive lockdown. In the first two phases of lockdown, the desperation had quadrupled prices of alcohol in the Grey Market of India. Also, According to Google Trends, online searches for “how to make alcohol at home” peaked in India during the fourth week of March, which was the same when the lockdown was announced. As a consequence, a few people died drinking home-brewed liquor. People committed suicide due to alcohol withdrawal syndrome. Owing to the worsening situation and to reboot the economy, some states decided to open licensed liquor stores in the third phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic lockdown in India. This decision was the worst best decision the state governments could take. The kilometer-long queues in front of liquor stores were evidence that a pandemic can turn your life upside down yet your relationship with alcohol cannot move an inch.
The love in the hearts of those who are addicted was explicit. We might have seen addiction, we might have witnessed desperation but what happened in the month of May was madness, not just in terms of the way people pounced but also in the way the government earned. According to a report by Hindustan Times, on the first day of the third phase of Lockdown, the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh recorded a sale of over Rs 100 Crore from liquor. On the second day of the reopening of Liquor stores, Karnataka reported sales of 197 crores in a single day which was the largest ever. Eventually, the prices of Liquor were hiked to 100% to discourage people from drinking.
. . .
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There was a special corona fee that was imposed in Delhi by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. A 70% corona fee was imposed in Delhi, yet the sales did not drop. The entire situation was a disaster for the law enforcement officers, social distancing was easily abandoned and a basic code of conduct was happily violated. Despite the chaos created, the states continued to collect revenues. Home delivery of alcohol was allowed in Maharashtra and e-tokens were sold in Delhi.
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Demand for liquor is inelastic which means that
the sale of alcohol is not much responsive to change in prices.
In general, since alcohol policy is a state subject in India, revenue from Liquor is a cash cow for state governments. In 2018 and 2019, four states collectively collected about 20,000 crores in taxes from the sale of liquor. As much as the state earns from the sale of Liquor it is undoubtedly, a threat to the Economy. Consumption of alcohol has dire health consequences. When a person consumes an alcoholic beverage, there is a rise in BAC because of which there is a gradual and progressive loss of driving ability because of an increase in reaction time, overconfidence, degraded muscle coordination, impaired concentration, and decreased auditory and visual acuity. This is known as drunken driving. (V. M. Anantha Eashwar, 2020) Drunken driving is the third biggest cause of road accidents and over speeding in India. Road accidents are not it; alcoholism causes sleep problems, heart, and liver issues. Also, it is not about an individual’s life, it ruins the lives of all people concerned.
Addiction also causes economic loss. In 2000, Vivek Benegal and his team assessed 113 patients admitted to a special de-addiction service for alcohol dependence. They found that
the average individual earned a mean of ₹1,661 but
spent ₹1,938 per month on alcohol, incurring high debt.
They also found that 95% did not work for about 14 days in a month. They concluded that it led to a loss of ₹13,823 per person per year in terms of foregone productivity. A more recent study, Health Impact and Economic Burden of Alcohol Consumption in India, led by Gaurav Jyani, concluded that alcohol-attributable deaths would lead to a loss of 258 million life-years between 2011 and 2050. The study placed the economic burden on the health system at $48.11 billion, and the societal burden (including health costs, productivity loss, and so on) at $1,867 billion. “This amounts to an average loss of 1.45% of the gross domestic product (GDP) per year to the Indian economy,” the study said. (Mint, 2020)
Setho ka Gaon
With each passing day, the ‘curtain of separation’ weighs down on the women of Afghanistan, paving the way for tyranny to thrive.
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The Economics of Sleep
Sphurti Srivastava
We all must have heard how sleep is important for our health. A night of good sleep helps in healing and repairing our heart and blood vessels and helps in better concentration. In the global era of competition, sleep is the most neglected component of everybody’s health. Most of the people nowadays are sleep-deprived. Sleep deficiency is responsible for causing problems with learning, concentration, focusing and decision making.
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Sleep also affects economic growth to some extent. Studies suggest that on average sleep deprivation causes economic loss up to 3% of GDP and increase in sleep could actually add billions to the economy. Shocking, right? However, this is indeed true. In the United States of America, insufficient sleep has been declared a public health problem by The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
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A research was conducted by RAND corporation (an American non-profit institution which helps in decision making through its research and analysis) on economic effects of sleep deprivation. The research showed some interesting findings:
Canada loses $21.4 Billion (1.35% of GDP) every year due to sleep deprivation, UK loses $50 billion (1.86% of GDP), Germany loses $60 Billion (1.56% of GDP), Japan loses 138 Billion (2.92% of GDP), USA loses $411 Billion (2.28% of GDP) and Australia loses $66.3 billion.
This is a huge loss of productivity. When we see it in terms of working days, we find that the USA loses 1.2 million working days, Japan loses 600000 working days, UK and Germany lose 200000 working days while Canada loses 80000 working days annually costing the economy billions.
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Now the question arises how does sleep cause such a huge economic loss? The answer lies in the fact that sleep-deprived people react 50% slower as compared to their well-slept counterparts and make more mistakes due to lack of concentration and focus. Also, sleep-deprived people are much less productive at the workplace. Sleep-deprived people are more prone to heart attacks, obesity and diabetes and take more sick leaves or work at a sub-par level causing huge economic losses.
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Another question that arises is what are the reasons for poor sleep in working individuals in today’s world? First and foremost, it is the lifestyle. Working overnight, or working late drinking coffee just before sleep also contributes to poor sleep. Lack of self-discipline, stress and health conditions are responsible for poor sleep. Moreover, nowadays most of the people have irregular working hours significantly impacting their sleep pattern.
Studies by the Wellness Council of America also show some interesting findings. According to this study, a proper sleep schedule could –
· Help employers save loss up to $1300 to $3100 per employee which occurs due to fatigue.
· Help employers save an annual loss of $1 million which occurs due to fatigue.
· Avoid $536000 in healthcare costs.
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Companies are recognizing the importance of good sleep among employees. Companies like the Huffington Post, Uber, Google, Ben & Jerry’s and PricewaterhouseCoopers offer nap rooms or nap pods to their employees. However, the sad reality is that these companies are beyond the reach of most employees. And not many companies pay attention to their employees’ sleep schedule. Some of the steps which individuals can take are- exercising, limiting the use of electronic devices and caffeine before sleeping, and exercising self-discipline. Companies can also take initiatives in this matter.
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Sleep deprivation has serious economic effects. However, an interesting finding comes to light. In microeconomics, we aim to achieve maximum utility at the lowest possible cost subject to budget constraints. While applying this reasoning to sleep we make a terrible mistake. In today’s modern world, people believe that their utility will be maximised at a point where they sleep less and stay awake to do more work and be more productive. However, research indicates the opposite. In economic terms, our utility is maximised at a point where we require more sleep than we actually think. The strange thing is we look to maximise our wealth by reducing our sleep without realizing the fact that sleep is wealth itself.
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