Ten Odd Economic Indicators: Hot Waitresses, Men's Underwear, Blacked-Out Football Games, and More

[...] Ten Odd Economic Indicators: Hot Waitresses, Men's Underwear, Blacked-Out Football Games, and More [...]

[...] Diocese of Phoenix says they're down 17% over the past two years, per USA Today. There is also a hot market for the reselling of cemetery plots, one of many odd economic indicators that says something about the times in which we live. People [...]

[...] News link: here [...]

[...] More HERE. [...]

[...] Unless you have been living in a cave for the last year, your sure to know that America is in a recession. If the whole thing still bemuses you, then here are some odd lifestyle changes brought on by the recession observed by Time Magazine. [...]

[...] indicatori economici mai ciudăţei Jump to Comments Indexul chiloţilor bărbăteşti şi revânzarea locurilor de veci chiar sunt indicatori serioşi.  Ca să păstrăm specificul [...]

[...] Tuttle writes on Time’s Cheapskate Blog: It’s hard for the lay person to wrap one’s brain around the rise or fall of GDP, new [...]

[...] Source:http://cheapskate.blogs.time.com/2009/09/25/ten-odd-economic-indicators-hot-waitresses-mens-underwea... [...]

[...] Sep. 29th, 2009 at 4:50 PM It's hard for the lay person to wrap one's brain around the rise or fall of GDP, new residential sales, money supply, and other traditional economic indicators.Source:http://cheapskate.blogs.time.com/2009/09/25/ten-odd-economic-indicators-hot-waitresses-mens-underwea... [...]

[...] Source:http://cheapskate.blogs.time.com/2009/09/25/ten-odd-economic-indicators-hot-waitresses-mens-underwea...   [...]

[...] fall of GDP, new residential sales, money supply, and other traditional economic indicators.Source:http://cheapskate.blogs.time.com/2009/09/25/ten-odd-economic-indicators-hot-waitresses-mens-underwea... Publicado por Aaron en [...]

I always heard peanut butter sales were the #1 economic indicator of the economy being in a recession -- no money for lunchmeant = peanut butter and jelly time.

[...] Odd Economic Indicators Posted by Karen Tumulty Monday, September 28, 2009 at 3:32 pm Submit a Comment • Trackback (0) • Related Topics: economy The Consumer Confidence Index is so old-school. If you really want to know how the economy is doing, you should be paying attention to whether there's been a pickup in the market in second-hand cemetery plots, there are more hikers on the Applachian Trail and whether your waitress is smokin' hot. All of these, economically speaking, are bad signs. Brad Tuttle explains why. [...]

[...] Ten Odd Economic Indicators: Hot Waitresses, Men’s Underwear, Blacked-Out Football Games, and ... [...]

[...] condoms, EZ Pass, fast food, gardens, movies How do you know the economy isn't doing so hot? Your waitress is really hot, for one thing. Also, there's a decline in the production of boxes meant to hold cereal, [...]

I read that falling camcorder sales are always an early warning sign as it's one of the least necessary digital items in the household.

Andy http://internet-marketing-ireland.ie

[...] 10 very odd economic indicators [...]

[...] Ten Odd Economic Indicators: Hot Waitresses, Men’s Underwear, Blacked-Out Football Games, and... It’s hard for the lay person to wrap one’s brain around the rise or fall of GDP, new residential sales, [...] [...]

[...] The Cheapskate Blog from Time.com lists ten odd economic indicators. It’s interesting to see how different groups of people react to recessions and how those reactions effect the rest of society. The signs are everywhere. You know the economy is struggling big time when your underwear is old, the armed forces don’t need recruits, there’s a hot resale market for cemetery plots, you can’t find the local pro football game on TV, your rich neighbors are clipping coupons, and your waitress looks like Megan Fox. That is, if you’re eating out at restaurants at all. [...]

One other good indicator: number of Federal Permits for Federal camping. For disabled or elderly: it can go as low as $7/night, including electric hookups. It is a major survival tool. A complementary good: price of trailers and RVs. I believe it is holding steady. It's not a bad thing to have a back up roof over your head. Just keep it away from the creditors.

How about the number of cancelled Internet accounts? This is the last that people let go: they will skip the credit card payments, skip going to the doctor (they can alway check their symptoms online), they will even cancel the cable, but it is hard to give up the Internet. My guess is that it has bottomed for a bit, but as unemployment benefits run out, we are going to see a new low.

Ah, the Trail. For stats and info go to http://www.appalachiantrail.org/site/c.mqLTIYOwGlF/b.4805579/k.DA92/2000Milers_Facts_and_Statistics.htm

I completed my thru-hike of the trail in 1994 when I was 22. I was young with no responsibilities, and a body that could recover from the 12-15 miles that you hike every day. If anyone thinks it's an inexpensive way to escape and kill 6 months, you'll be part of the 1/3 that don't make it the 160 miles to Fontana Dam, N.C.

The reason for the increased interest in the Trail around 2000 was Bill Bryson's book, "A Walk in the Woods." A good read, but he doesn't make it too far, and falls into the 75% of people that drop off the trail.

Now, where do I find these hot waitresses?

Spending $4-$6K on a 4-6 month hike is an economical lifestyle for many that hit the trail (they don't have a lot of "stuff"). Where else can you live that cheap?
If you have a $3K/month mortgage payment and don't have a job, you might as well go and enjoy the hike. The attorney's will have settled your affairs for you by the time you get back anyway.

Your #1 has no factual support for a connection to the economy; the writer of the story you cite had his mind made up in February. The number of hikers is up this year--still half the number of 2000--after eight years of decline. If you had no job or prospects, would you spend $4,000 to $6,000 on a hike? How many of 1,450 would say, "The recession made me do it"?