The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement • Hacker News Board

Re: The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement

#41

Post by tombert » Thu, May 02, 2024, 1:51 PM UTC

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 about strippers but I am right up there with you on tips becoming absurd here. Every kiosk where I swipe my credit card wants a tip now. I didn’t really “like” tipping before, but I accepted it as just part of the transaction for getting a waiter or waitress to write down my order and deliver me my food and refill my drinks.

Now the companies want a tip for the food I pick up myself directly from the restaurant and leave. I am not sure what I would even be tipping for, for making me the sandwich? Shouldn’t that aspect just be rolled into be price of, you know, the sandwich?

I used to feel kind of guilty for declining to tip at these kiosks, but I don’t anymore. In fact in a way I guess it’s sort of saved me money since I dislike this process so much that I have taken to just buying groceries and making food at home more often.

Re: The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement

#42

Post by TeMPOraL » Thu, May 02, 2024, 1:52 PM UTC

harryp_peng wrote: post #29

itsoktocry wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

Out of context: what is sex? Is it physical satisfaction or romantic connection?

Yes.

It really depends on the context. If you ask your spouse, it's probably the latter. When talking about strip clubs, it's more of the former.

Re: The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement

#43

Post by diamondap » Thu, May 02, 2024, 1:53 PM UTC

mlinhares wrote: post #9

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…

There’s no such implied promise, it’s the other way around: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reserve_army_of_labour

OK, maybe it isn't capitalism but US society that implies that promise. Many (insensitive) people respond to tales of economic woe by saying, "Get a job!" As if that's going to solve even your basic money woes. As others in this discussion have noted, many people employed full time still struggle to provide the basics. That part of the social contract just isn't holding up for a lot of people. And that's a recipe for social unrest.

Re: The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement

#44

Post by SV_BubbleTime » Thu, May 02, 2024, 1:54 PM UTC

viraptor wrote: post #25

droopyEyelids wrote: post #12

Wonder how a recession will affect the election

Most likely negatively for the current president. Regardless of actual policies, there will be lots of people associating the beginning of the recession with whoever has the role at the time. Few consider what the baseline of inaction would be.

It’s not going to help that Biden was previously taking credit for it with the imo poorly considered “Bidenomics” official catchphrase. Spending a ton on Build Back Better than no one can point to the building or the better. And pushing these in an abstract while people are very clearly seeing grocery store prices.

Right or wrong doesn’t matter. This admin and the media has been doing their best to gaslight a great economy, and that I think will hurt. You can be so blue that your commie red, and still see the messaging of this admin has been bad.

Re: The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement

#45

Post by walthamstow » Thu, May 02, 2024, 1:57 PM UTC

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…

> long weekend trip to several Central and South American countries

Good luck explaining that to your wife

Re: The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement

#46

Post by tombert » Thu, May 02, 2024, 1:59 PM UTC

ziddoap wrote: post #27

TechnicalVault wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> And the stripper index is down because their market is oversaturated aka "onlyfans overload". The article talks about a steep decline in the past ~year / post-covid. OnlyFans has been around since 2016. They are also fairly distinct. Not sure you can pin it all on OF.

Just because OnlyFans has been around for eight years doesn’t imply that it’s been popular for that long.

Sample size of one, but I personally had not heard of it until 2020, after some YouTuber drama, and I am a somewhat terminally online human. I suspect it didn’t reach broad cultural awareness for a fair bit longer than that; I don’t remember any people IRL talking about it until OF talked about not allowing adult content like a year later.

Re: The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement

#47

Post by ProllyInfamous » Thu, May 02, 2024, 2:02 PM UTC

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…

"Keep up all your hard work and next year I'll take you for a drive in my new sports car!" —Some Boss, probably

Re: The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement

#48

Post by baby-yoda » Thu, May 02, 2024, 2:07 PM UTC

patwolf wrote: post #35

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.stloui…

Q1 and Q2 2022 had negative GDP growth [0]. Ignoring the debate about whether or not that constitutes a "true recession", as the article mentions this index indicates the economy is experiencing strain and the timelines match up to the previous citation you mention. To me that would indicate it has some level of accurate representation.

[0] https://www.npr.org/2022/07/28/1113649843/gdp-2q-economy-202...

Re: The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement

#49

Post by greenavocado » Thu, May 02, 2024, 2:07 PM UTC

patwolf wrote: post #35

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.stloui…

I trust statistics about strippers more than I trust statistics about the federal government.

Also the length of a stripper's career is irrelevant for this discussion as long as there is an equilibrium state of strippers available.

Re: The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement

#50

Post by polotics » Thu, May 02, 2024, 2:08 PM UTC

tombert wrote: post #41

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 about strippers but I am right up there with you on tips becoming absurd here. Every kiosk where I swipe my credit card wants a tip now. I didn’t really “like” tipping before, but I accepted it as just part of the transaction for getting a waiter or waitress to write down my order and deliver me my food and refill my drinks. Now the companies want a tip for the food I pick up myself directly from the res…

I feel you so much on this. So many shops pressing for many more ways to allow tips, for example presenting a percentage with options 10%, 20%, 30%... to frame customers into picking the one in the middle! Does any of you'all know if there are law defining maximums for tipping, like maybe in european countries or something?