Do People Drink More During a Recession?

I have heard it many time in the past few months and to tell the truth I don't know if it is an urban myth or there is some truth to it. In my experience people in general have been spending less for wine. However, I have been selling more or less the same amount of bottles as prior years. The big spenders are more rare and my private clientèle is a bit shyer. The axiom bad financial times and more drinking does not convince me completely. The only benefit for the wine retailers is that probably now the trend is to save money; so the first thing people cut is eating out in restaurants. Thus, the retailer's of wine and food, sales should go up. I did see that happening to a certain extend but that benefit has been leveled by the drop of the average bottle price. The so called 'big spenders' probably are not acquiring as many bottles as in past years, also because their cellars are most likely filled. So in such a time they are drinking what they have put away. This is what I find myself doing as well, drinking wines from my cellar, the weird part is that I am opening more great bottles than in the past. It's almost like Nero fiddling while Rome was burning down. I'm drinking Grand Crus while the world financially melts down. Maybe this is because in times like this, the trust in the future is kind of low, so that quote 'life is to short' is more valuable. Or is it just a reaction of a very bad economic slump, drinking good bottles is somewhat a reassurance that life is not that bad? Among my friends I see that happening, Piers is taking out of the cellar the good stuff, Michael is drinking vintage Brunello like there is no tomorrow and I'm sharing more great bottles like I never have before with my love. Are we just reacting in a foolish way to a critical period? Who knows but I would like to hear your opinions on this, so for now and now more then ever...
Buona Bevuta a Tutti!!!!