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The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement

theamericangenius.com

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Re: The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement

#11

Post by mycologos »

elmerfud wrote: post #2

Or it could be that people are just tipped out. I hadn't been to a strip club in several years but I got dragged to one a few months back by a friend and I got to tell you the money that these girls wanted seem to astronomically high for the service that they were providing. Maybe people are just fed up with it and spending their discretionary income in other ways. The girls turn their nose up at a couple dollars on…

I think your explanation is missing a competitive element that drives the $500 price. Two similar examples:

1) Maximum City is a book about various people in Mumbai around ~2000. One of them is a sort of stripper (she dances and sometimes dates in a transactional way; I don't remember how explicit it all is). Her analysis is that her clients are partially paying for her but more so for "winning" her over the other clients. The point isn't that one of them takes her shopping and gets to watch her choose handbags; the point is that nobody else gets to go.

2) I read a long article about economic strategies behind webcam shows (by a performer, maybe by Aella?) and the author made two points that I remember: one, it's good to have a stupidly high priced item that a whale can roll in and buy. Two, she had success having a high priced item that "saved" her, e.g., if you pay $X I won't have to eat this gross thing I made. Neither one of these is really about the thing, it's about the feeling of out-competing the other guys there.

So while you're $500 example makes sense if somebody is just looking for the dance (or whatever) itself, it doesn't make sense if that person actually wants to "win" over the other patrons (and doesn't view the poorer patrons in the poorer country as real competitors).

Re: The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement

#13

Post by _wnax »

virtue3 wrote: post #3
elmerfud wrote: post #2

Or it could be that people are just tipped out. I hadn't been to a strip club in several years but I got dragged to one a few months back by a friend and I got to tell you the money that these girls wanted seem to astronomically high for the service that they were providing. Maybe people are just fed up with it and spending their discretionary income in other ways. The girls turn their nose up at a couple dollars on…

I think 500$ for an hour might have been a little more than a dance, and probably inline with what that kind of service offers. If not did you goto one of the top strip clubs in America? that sounds insane. Haven't been to a strip club in a real long time myself tho (absolutely don't have the income nor desire). I think top golf is an interesting metric; I'd be concerned about linking it to two things so addictive -…

I encountered similar prices at a Miami Beach club. Initially the security pressed me because I don't drink alcohol, but apparently buying drinks was required (in addition to the cover). In order to satisfy them, I said I would buy a dance, but wasn't given a price until already up in the "VIP" area

The price was ridiculous, I don't recall exactly, and I declined, saying I would just leave, and the dancer said in a Russian accent, if I did, she would tell security that I robbed her, since we already entered VIP. I think I paid her like $60 in front of the security guard and walked out. Definitely got mob/extortion vibes from the whole experience.

In this example, at least the $50 per 3 minutes or whatever it was, wasn't for anything 'extra' as the VIP area was wide open with no walls, all the victims able to see exactly how scammed everyone was getting.

Re: The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement

#14

Post by grobgambit »

rsynnott wrote: post #5

This is a weirdly common type of article; given that the long-prophesied US recession remains stubbornly absent by any normal metrics, people just make up new ones to claim that there is a recession. > Many quirky (and weirdly accurate) economic indicators help forecast the economy. For example, if an AFC team wins the Superbowl, the stock market will decline the following year. While there doesn’t seem to be a direc…

If the economy is bad people seem to enjoy news articles about how things are going to get worse and if the economy is good people seem to enjoy news articles about how things are just about to crash.

Re: The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement

#15

Post by cpursley »

diamondap wrote: post #6

There are more people struggling these days than the mainstream news reports. The lines at the food banks where I live are much longer than they were before COVID. One of the local food banks says they're distributing three times as many meals per month as they served before the pandemic. And this is an area of relatively high employment. People working service jobs simply can't afford the basics, and that's a proble…

I don’t think I’d define the situation we’re in as capitalism.

Re: The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement

#16

Post by viraptor »

salad-tycoon wrote: post #4
virtue3 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think 500$ for an hour might have been a little more than a dance, and probably inline with what that kind of service offers. If not did you goto one of the top strip clubs in America? that sounds insane. Haven't been to a strip club in a real long time myself tho (absolutely don't have the income nor desire). I think top golf is an interesting metric; I'd be concerned about linking it to two things so addictive -…

I’ve never lived this lifestyle and don’t agree with it but here’s an AMA from a guy who claims to regularly get high end escorts. Supposedly the cost is anywhere from 250-1000 and that might be Australian dollars? https://old.reddit.com/r/AMA/comments/1cfpcfl/ive_slept_with...

You can just browse the backpage for a bigger city to get an idea of prices. Apparently basic sex pays below $200h/h in Seattle (chosen at random), so those higher prices would likely be for a night/event/high class.

Re: The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement

#17

Post by ethbr1 »

TechnicalVault wrote: post #10
rsynnott wrote: post #5

This is a weirdly common type of article; given that the long-prophesied US recession remains stubbornly absent by any normal metrics, people just make up new ones to claim that there is a recession. > Many quirky (and weirdly accurate) economic indicators help forecast the economy. For example, if an AFC team wins the Superbowl, the stock market will decline the following year. While there doesn’t seem to be a direc…

People confuse a economic recession with what is happening because of how words sometimes change their meaning away from their technical to a more colloquial interpretation. The economy as a whole is doing well, but people aren't because of inflation. Recession is just the word they've learnt to interpret as "I'm feeling poorer". And the stripper index is down because their market is oversaturated aka "onlyfans overl…

Imho, inflation has a lot less to do with the perception than bimodal income separation.

Either you're "fine" or you're very much not fine.

Which is why you get people talking past each other.

Re: The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement

#19

Post by josefresco »

elmerfud wrote: post #2

Or it could be that people are just tipped out. I hadn't been to a strip club in several years but I got dragged to one a few months back by a friend and I got to tell you the money that these girls wanted seem to astronomically high for the service that they were providing. Maybe people are just fed up with it and spending their discretionary income in other ways. The girls turn their nose up at a couple dollars on…

I don't know what kind of strip club you attended but the "average rate" for a 1-on1 dance is $20 (sometimes with an additional fee for the private room). That's for 1 song, typically 4-5 minutes. That equates to about $240 for an entire hour. Paying for a stripper to spend an hour with you is excessive, unless you are a high roller or are (as many are) expecting more than just a dance. Maybe you visited a "high end" club, or maybe you got taken for a ride (which I've seen happen to rich, inexperienced young men).

Re: The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement

#20

Post by wink »

As I have no idea what percentage of people frequent strip clubs, I'm mostly wondering if the sample size (and especially the demographic) is big enough to even be representative of anything.

Then again I'm not from the US and not generally visiting strip clubs. It's a topic that doesn't come up very often either.

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