Stop drinking now!

Perhaps you drink responsibly, but you create contagion effects for others:

How malleable is alcohol consumption? Specifically, how much is alcohol consumption driven by the current environment versus individual characteristics? To answer this question, we analyze changes in alcohol purchases when consumers move from one state to another in the United States. We find that if a household moves to a state with a higher (lower) average alcohol purchases than the origin state, the household is likely to increase (decrease) its alcohol purchases right after the move. The current environment explains about two-thirds of the differences in alcohol purchases. The adjustment takes place both on the extensive and intensive margins.

That is from a new research paper by Marit Hinnosaar and Elaine M. Liu.   To be clear, I don’t think we should ban alcohol, I simply think each and every person should stop drinking it, voluntarily.  Now.

Will MacAskill remarked to me recently (in a not yet released CWT) that Effective Altruists tend to be social liberals.  But should they be?  Why should they not jump on this bandwagon?  It is in fact a wagon you jump on!