About Me

Recent graduate of Texas Tech University. I am now working for the "man" and hating it.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

What has the world come to?

I am all for thinking outside the box. I am no economic genius, but it appears to me that everyday there are economic indicators coming out that contradict each other on the direction of the economy. One day we are almost out of the hole and the sun is shining and the next day we are staring into the abyss wondering where the bottom is. Well one article has finally found the answer.

Porn. Porn has traditionally been one of the most economically inelastic industries there is. Think about it. When we start heading for a recession, sales of higher end electronics decrease, Starbucks suddenly finds itself having a hard time selling high-priced lattes, and more people head to Wal-Mart and CostCo for groceries. But when the economy is in the crapper do men decide to stop whacking it to porn and decide to take a nice bubble bath and spank it to an old memory? I think not. Porn is a non-substitutable good. Or at least it was…

An article by Peter Bart in Variety says:

The drop in porn rentals and sales is worrisome on several fronts: Till now, porn has been a recession-proof business. Further, with the country already in a dispirited mood, the fact that porn has gone limp may indicate a true plunge in consumer confidence.

DVD porn is down between 10% and 30%, depending on which nook and cranny of the business you scrutinize. Joy King, executive vice president of Wicked Pictures, and a smart analyst of the business, says the smallest dropoff is in "couples-friendly porn" -- films that embrace something of a storyline. Women account for roughly half of this audience, making their purchases in lingerie boutiques and toy stores (no, not kiddie toys).

This, in my book, is a sure indicator that we are in a recession and that it is only going to get worse. If the ordinary man is too worried about pinching pennies that he can’t sit down with some lotion, a paper towel, and new copy of Harry Twatter then we are all doomed.

Read the article (its pretty funny):
http://www.variety.com/VR1117984246.html