Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement

theamericangenius.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 114 posts

Re: The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement

#31

Post by saalweachter »

hollywood_court wrote: post #23
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…

It's really getting out of hand. I see it here with my coworkers in our small company. There are only 6 employees here total. 3 of my coworkers commute for 1hr+ away each way because they can't afford to live in our town. And then they don't eat. With their work schedule and their commute they're gone from home for 12hrs or more per day so they can't meal prep. And they can't afford to dine out. So they simply don't…

I feel like the owner/operator of a six-person company styling themselves the "CEO" is symbolic of something, somehow.

Re: The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement

#32

Post by btbuildem »

wink wrote: post #20

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.

I don't think the percentage matters; it's the difference between money being and not being spent. It's not my scene, but I am guessing this correlates with highly disposable income -- people who make too much too easily so they can throw it away just as freely. If that stops flowing, I think it's a decent indicator of a general slow-down.

Re: The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement

#33

Post by nindalf »

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'm kind of with you on this.

The stripper index makes sense when they were servicing a need no one else could. But the rise of OnlyFans means that at least some of the money that would have gone to strippers is going to performers on OnlyFans.

That's the issue with the Stripper index, is that it's vibes based because we can't actually measure how much the industry earned. If we listened to how people felt America should have been through 4 recessions in the last 3 years.

Re: The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement

#34

Post by sgt101 »

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…

>Senior consultants that solve million dollars problems don't charge that much per hour.

I do.

Re: The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement

#35

Post by patwolf »

I found a similar article from June of 2022 about the stripper index signaling a recession, so clearly it's not a very good indicator. A stripper is typically a short-term career, so it wouldn't make sense to rely on observations made over such a short period. Maybe things are just returning to normal after a boom, and none of the interviewed people were around pre-boom.

The personal savings rate, https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PSAVERT, might be a better proxy of whatever the stripper index is actually signaling. It was at a low in the summer of 2022 and is nearing a low again. Less money in savings means less money to spend at strip clubs. It doesn't, however, automatically mean recession.

Re: The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement

#36

Post by btbuildem »

resource_waste wrote: post #30
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…

> The lines at the food banks where I live are much longer than they were before COVID. what does this really mean? Like food is so cheap we are obese. So does this mean more people want freebies? Tasty brand name foods? My neighbor thought we were poor and gave us food they got from a foodbank, it was really nice (but odd) stuff. In 2024 I can't really understand using food as a measurement. There is too much.

Well, if you can't understand, why such strong opinions?

Read up about basics of nutrition, about how poverty and obesity are correlated, what "food deserts" are, the differences between processed and healthy foods, etc.

Re: The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement

#37

Post by wongarsu »

itsoktocry wrote: post #21
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 literally had to explain to one of these girls how insane the price was I'm sure she loved that. > Maybe people are just fed up with it and spending their discretionary income in other ways. My friend, paying for "sex" will be one of the last things to go. > Because for $500 from the USA if you live near any major airport hub you take a long weekend trip to several Central and South American countries Do you thin…

> Do you think these are substitutes?

Depends on the strip club prices in those countries I guess.

Re: The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement

#38

Post by hollywood_court »

saalweachter wrote: post #31
hollywood_court wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's really getting out of hand. I see it here with my coworkers in our small company. There are only 6 employees here total. 3 of my coworkers commute for 1hr+ away each way because they can't afford to live in our town. And then they don't eat. With their work schedule and their commute they're gone from home for 12hrs or more per day so they can't meal prep. And they can't afford to dine out. So they simply don't…

I feel like the owner/operator of a six-person company styling themselves the "CEO" is symbolic of something, somehow.

Definitely. And his wife is the "Executive Assistant" although I've only seen her in the office 4-5 times since I started in October.

Re: The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement

#40

Post by resource_waste »

btbuildem wrote: post #36
resource_waste wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The lines at the food banks where I live are much longer than they were before COVID. what does this really mean? Like food is so cheap we are obese. So does this mean more people want freebies? Tasty brand name foods? My neighbor thought we were poor and gave us food they got from a foodbank, it was really nice (but odd) stuff. In 2024 I can't really understand using food as a measurement. There is too much.

Well, if you can't understand, why such strong opinions? Read up about basics of nutrition, about how poverty and obesity are correlated, what "food deserts" are, the differences between processed and healthy foods, etc.

Funny you mention that. Its my expertise.

Food Deserts are defined in a way that is unhelpful, I live in a food desert in one of the richest counties. I have 0 grocery stores within 1 mile. But I have 6 grocery stores within 3 miles.

Go ahead with the conventional sayings: Tell me the fallacious remark about McDoubles being the healthiest cheapest food ever. Go ahead and say something incorrect like processed foods are cheaper than fresh foods. In a few years you are going to change from thinking Fat is the devil to carbs are the devil. Then you will take up fasting, then keto, then gluten free.

People in the US have too much money to care about food. These are people getting dopamine from food pleasure. No one wants to admit it.

Post reply on HN