For those of you who are tired of watching GDP tick down; for those that are tired of watching the unemployment rate lose its sense of gravity- there’s officially a better way. A few better ways, actually.
Everyday economists are getting creative with the way they assess the economy. For years, the Hemline Indicator predicted the state of things. The shorter the skirts, the better the year. The premise is that when the stocks are up, people feel better. When they feel better, they feel better about themselves. And they show it by showing off their legs (at least the females).
Then there’s also the Bikini Indicator: in years when an American graced the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition, the Dow Jones outperformed the average by 7%.
This recession’s different. It’s the worst since the 1930s, blah blah blah. And desperate times call for desperate measures. Or so argues the Hot Waitress Index. It’s point: in good times, attractive women can always get a job in sales. Or the wilder ones can pull in $2k a night wrapped around a pole. But when the times are tough, those opportunities dry up with the rest. And so they wait tables.
Anyone have an index of their own they’d like to share?
