Since Oktoberfest has kicked off in Munich and beer drinking season is in full swing, The Economist (the chart below is theirs) has published a research study proving the amount of time we (people, humans, adults) have to work in order to afford 500ml (16.9 ounces, or roughly a pint) of beer. Their findings, based on the retail price of beer divided by the average hourly wage in the specific country, place Americans in first, or last, place--depending on your perspective.

At the top, or bottom, of the chart is India- with low working wages and high taxes, employees in this country must work for close to an hour before they have earned just one cold one.  On the opposite side, Americans can be on the clock for as little as seven minutes and they’ll already have a pint-sized frosted mug banked for the end of their work day.  So, figuratively speaking, the
average 40 hour/week worker can earn over 342 glasses of beer by Friday evening.  Now, that’s not to say we should all be filling that quota- but it does make your hard earned pennies seem to stretch a little further than you thought, now doesn’t it?

 Source: The Economist, “Thirsty Work”