The Graphics of Beer

According to the Economist, the US has the best ratio of minutes of work needed to buy beer:


After I retweeted this (thanks Roland) with "Decline? Hell no" kind of comment, folks pointed out that quality might be an issue--that American beer is cheap swill.  Indeed.  If we just had micro-brews listed (since they are better and more expensive), US might be more in the middle of the pack.

Of course, other beer issues have arisen lately which raise the Swill issue more directly:

Notice all of the swill.  Turns out Busch is the beer of moderates, which makes sense since it is as if one is drinking expensive water.  My enjoyment of Blue Moon was already diminished by the realization it is produced by Coors.  Now, it makes me feel just a bit Republican as well.  Yuck squared.  I do find interesting that Republicans tend to be fans of lite beers--notice Mille and Miller Lite, Busch & Busch Lite, Bud &Bud Light, most dramatically between Corona and Corona light.  Why are Republicans fans of lite beer?  Is this consistent with a "we can have whatever we want if we sacrifice quality" mindset?

Hmm, more social science is required.