NORM

Cheers, Russkies, say economists Lorenz Kueng and Evgeny Yakovlev;

Russia’s beer sales expanded rapidly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, both in levels but also relative to vodka sales – the other main alcoholic beverage consumed by Russians.

Given that,

... alcohol consumption is widely believed to be the main contributing factor to the high male mortality rate in Russia, where male life expectancy is 15 years lower than female life expectancy.

The post-Soviet switcherooni should mean more, if not better, Russians;

...we estimate that male mortality in Russia will decrease by one quarter within 20 years even under the status quo, that is, under the current set of policies and current levels of relative prices of alcoholic beverages. This will happen simply because new generations will be more accustomed to beer and will replace older generations with strong preferences for vodka. Since much of the gap in male life expectancy is due to occasional binge drinking (even holding fixed the average level of alcohol intake), which in turn is more likely to occur for males who prefer vodka, this shift in consumption habits toward beer has strong effects on life expectancy.

More troops for Putin to send to Ukraine.