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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

#71

Post by lupire »

rayiner wrote: post #28
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…

> literally had to explain to one of these girls how insane the price was If that’s the going rate that’s the going rate. My plumber quoted me $17,000 in labor for something that was probably a days work for a team of two (and $5,000 in materials). That’s about $500-1,000 an hour. My dad was like “that’s insane for a plumber.” And I’m like “you told everyone to go to college and become baristas, so that’s what plumbe…

That's a load-bearing "probably".

Re: The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement

#72

Post by lupire »

tombert wrote: post #69
nineteen999 wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can at least tell you that in Australia, nobody tips anybody unless they feel like it, and nobody complains if you don't. Our minimum wage is higher here though.

Yeah I think it's a kind of distinctly American thing. You're just expected to tip for everything here. I'm sure there's historical reasons for it but they aren't really important because the fact is that regardless of the reason I just really dislike it. I would much rather employers pay their employees a livable wage and roll the cost of that into the price of the service.

Even if they pay a living wage, why wouldn't they give you a chance to pay more? It's not their fault that you choose to pay extra because your self esteem can't withstand a picture on a screen.

Re: The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement

#73

Post by NeoTar »

polotics wrote: post #50
tombert wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Not so far as I know, but mandatory tipping (i.e. adding a service charge to a bill) is illegal in many countries, and it wouldn't surprise me if having a tip screen on a payment terminal were against local regulations.

Re: The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement

#74

Post by kipchak »

01HNNWZ0MV43FF wrote: post #7
salad-tycoon wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

Per hour or per night?

That sounds like per hour. If you're curious about how the whole thing works parts of it are fairly above ground - community support subreddits and advertising websites with rates for example.

Re: The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement

#75

Post by marcosdumay »

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…

> The economy as a whole is doing well, but people aren't

Yeah, that means your measurement of "the economy" is lying. And that you are in a recession.

There's no mixing of technical and colloquial terms here. All that is there is a lying indicator. And if people insist that incorrect number is real, those people are lying too.

Re: The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement

#76

Post by lupire »

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.

Poor people are fat because they don't cook well, not because food is expensive. Good cooking is expensive, and bad cooking is available. Healthy basic cooking is cheap. Food is so cheap that you can eat when you can't afford to anything else! In other words, obesity is cheap entertainment, not a good cost issue.

Re: The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement

#77

Post by tombert »

lupire wrote: post #72
tombert wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah I think it's a kind of distinctly American thing. You're just expected to tip for everything here. I'm sure there's historical reasons for it but they aren't really important because the fact is that regardless of the reason I just really dislike it. I would much rather employers pay their employees a livable wage and roll the cost of that into the price of the service.

Even if they pay a living wage, why wouldn't they give you a chance to pay more? It's not their fault that you choose to pay extra because your self esteem can't withstand a picture on a screen.

I mean, they're free to do whatever they, I just don't enjoy it; the frequency in which tips are being asked for now is just annoying, I didn't really think that's even a controversial statement.

But I do kind of dispute that it's just a "self esteem" thing. Often the "no tip" option is smaller and harder to spot, and I think that some people genuinely do not realize that "not tipping" is an option, and it's not like these kiosk manufacturers don't know this.

Re: The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement

#78

Post by lotsofpulp »

015a wrote: post #58
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…

Entertainment in general; another great example of this is ticket prices for concerts and drink prices inside the venues. Obviously drink prices have always been high, but a pint of domestic beer has been very steadily creeping up by $1-$2 a year since 2020; effectively double today relative to even 8 years ago. I just paid $250 for pit tickets to see an artist I like at a mid-tier venue. A similarly popular artist i…

> Its a situation where things are more expensive -> people do fewer things -> the things have to get more expensive to account for people doing fewer things -> vicious cycle.

This is bad reasoning and completely throws out the concept of supply and demand.

You are paying $250 instead of $70 because you want to see a specific show by a specific entertainer. There are lots of other shows available for less.

Re: The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement

#79

Post by blululu »

ethbr1 wrote: post #17
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…

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.

Nah, inflation sucks across the board. The human mind and human society don’t really react well to things changing so fast. And since losses weigh higher than gains, and everything needs to be renegotiated, nobody feels good about the outcome even if they come up even. This holds for people at the top and people at the bottom.

Re: The Stripper Index: An unorthodox recession measurement

#80

Post by [deleted] »

rayiner wrote: post #28
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…

> literally had to explain to one of these girls how insane the price was If that’s the going rate that’s the going rate. My plumber quoted me $17,000 in labor for something that was probably a days work for a team of two (and $5,000 in materials). That’s about $500-1,000 an hour. My dad was like “that’s insane for a plumber.” And I’m like “you told everyone to go to college and become baristas, so that’s what plumbe…

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