As a close follower of business trends, I was examining a series of Federal Reserve graphs today charting the lengths and strengths of various recessions and subsequent recoveries throughout our country’s history.
Boring, I know. But something struck me in the midst of my macro-analysis:
Recent recoveries have been slow and weak, while economic recoveries in the mid-20th century were lightning-fast and vibrant.
How could this be? I’ll tell you.
Workers back then were allowed, nay encouraged, to drink at work. Employees often kept a full bar, or at the very least a bottle of single-malt openly in their offices.
“Stop me at three,” Man Men’s Don Draper cautioned his young secretary one morning, before launching into a series of Emmy Award-winning business activities.
The Golden Age of Advertising, as it was called, was not so-named because of the large piles of money they earned, but due to the golden hue of the various liquors stored in each office.