A generation ago, a stocked liquor cabinet and a fridge filled with mass-produced beer were standards in the American home, …
Economic Indicators
Cheers! Increase in Liquor Sales Bodes Well for Economic Recovery
Pop open a bottle of your favorite spirits. It’s time to celebrate. Liquor sales rose by 4% last year, and growth was particularly strong in terms of exports of American spirits (up 16.5%) and sales in the pricey “super premium” …
More Cremations, Thanks to the Economy
The death of a loved one is traumatic enough. The scenario of late typically involves difficult decisions and costly medical expenses—followed by a potentially costly ceremony and burial. Increasingly, though, families are cutting expenses by choosing cremation, which costs less than half of the price of a traditional burial.
Cocaine Use Down—Because It’s Too Expensive
Is the recession changing the way we get high? All sorts of quirky trends have been attributed as fallout from the global economic crisis—including, most recently, a decrease in the frequency with which parents change their …
How Consumers Are Coping: Layaway, More Gardens and Pet Adoptions
Consumer activity gives a good indication of how the economy is holding up, and here are five trends indicating that consumers are having a particularly hard time lately.
Dognapping! The Economy Is to Blame for a Rise in Dog Kidnapping
Pets and the economy have a curious relationship. Overall spending in the pet industry has risen steadily over the past few years, even as the economy has struggled. But spending on pets isn’t entirely recession-proof, as …
The Economy’s Being Blamed for the Decline of Pet Burials
A pet burial, complete with a casket, ceremony, and cemetery plot, runs around $800. Cremating a pet, on the other hand, costs about $80. Guess which option is increasingly being chosen by pet owners?
It’s a Great Time to Be in the Thrift Store Business
How’s this for an unorthodox economic indicator: Stores selling secondhand merchandise on the cheap are absolutely booming.
The State of the Economy, Investing, Housing, and Brazilian Bikini Waxes
Among other surprising factoids, 44% of Americans say they'll never put money in the stock market again.
Economic Indicator: Tooth Fairy Payments Are Up 18%
The national average appearing under the pillows of recently de-toothed children is now $2.52 a pop. That’s up 18% from the average of a year ago ($2.13). And the increase, according the group that conducts this annual poll, is a strong indication that the economy is improving. Either that or the black market for kids’ incisors is as hot as gold.
Signs the Economy Isn’t a Total Basket Case
For quite some time, there was no shortage of indicators pointing to the fact that the economy wasn’t doing so hot—including some odd data about a falloff in men’s underwear sales, a rise in animals being abandoned at pet shelters, and the impressively overqualified status of this year’s census workers. Now, at long last, we’ve got …
Economic Indicator: The Price of a Haircut on Craigslist?
Among the data that may give some indication of how the economy is doing: Sales of generic toilet paper and cheap liquor, how new your underwear is, and how hot your waitress is, and how busy the fast-food drive-thru is at breakfast time. Also: passenger subway traffic near San Francisco’s Union Square, and perhaps even the asking prices …