Gillian B. White reported on a study that looked at the economic impact of hangovers:

• The study examined the cost of lost productivity, criminal justice fees, and medical bills as a result of people regretting the night before.
• The greatest cost comes from people who have to miss work due to hangovers, or who show up but are ineffective. This is estimated to cost the United States $90 billion.
• Car accidents as a result of hangovers cost $13 billion and arrests and court fees cost $15 billion.
• Overall hangovers cost the US economy $250 billion. About $100 billion of that is borne by taxpayers in the form of medical care and government employee time.

In fairness the study doesn’t seem to have compared the stats above with the value that people derive from being able to drink enough to trigger a hangover. You can read the study here.

Source: The Atlantic