Men's Underwear Proves Briefs Can Hold Up Economic Trends
In what can only be thought of as a brief display of hilarity, the Wall Street Journal tells us, in their September 1st,”Real Time Economics” newsletter that, when Men’s brief’s sales start to rise that the economy will as well. As silly as this sounds, the logic goes like this, according to the WSJ,
Sales of men’s underwear typically are stable because they rank as a necessity. But during times of severe financial strain, men will try to stretch the time between buying new pairs, causing underwear sales to dip.
And, when men’s underwear sags, well, the economy, inevitably, takes a dip too. As The Journal reports it:
“It’s a prolonged purchase,” said Marshal Cohen, senior analyst with the consumer research firm NPD Group. “It’s liketrying to drive your car an extra 10,000 miles.”
According to retailers, the men’s brief’s sales started to dip when the recession took hold last year and sales of Men’s underwear is expected to dip 2.3% this year and only .5% next year. The true creator of this MUI (mens underwear index) is actually Allen Greenspan, as reported in the Huffington Post. What might his underwear drawer tell us now?
Curiously, women’s underwear sales do not seem to be an economic indicator, remaining stable in both sweet and sour economies. One would presume that since women tend to do most of a family’s domestic shopping that they re-route some of the budget to their own needs – including that of underwear?
