[tim-kt]

I agree. I would say that I am addicted to caffeine. I definitely get withdrawal symptoms if I don't have a coffee. But since it is so accessible and there are no health risks, it does not affect me negatively to "feed" the addiction.

[mrbluecoat]

Not a great analogy. Caffeine is not as addictive as opioids. Opioids strongly stimulate the mesolimbic dopamine pathway, leading to intense euphoria, compulsive use, and severe health and social harm.

[cactusplant7374]

Tyler Cowen has said that he doesn't drink coffee and he is worried about what it might be doing to us. There is a big unknown.

[Kurtz79]

I admit that I don't know who Tyler Cowen is, but millions (billions?) of people have drunk coffee daily for centuries and if there were ill effects in the same ballpark as opioids or tobacco by now we would certainly know?

[BurningFrog]

There is even a decent chance that the Industrial Revolution and the phenomenal wealth and progress it's brought was caused by the introduction of coffee to Europe.

[donkey_brains]

Hey, let’s not discount the opinion of some internet guy just because of the lived experience of the rest of humanity throughout history. /s

[cactusplant7374]

That's an attack on HN comments in general.

[switchbak]

A professor of economics has opinions on the health effects of an extremely common substance?

And I have opinions on nuclear energy - but neither of us are worth listening to outside our areas of expertise. Unless you can supply a reason I would bother listening to him as compared to an actual expert on the subject?

[zoklet-enjoyer]

Why should I care what an economist's opinion is on coffee consumption?

[jmye]

> There is a big unknown.

Because some dude with no health or nutrition background said uninformed things, that he isn't qualified to have opinions about, on the internet? Come on, now.