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    Default the 'Economic Vice' index ...

    This issue has been the topic of speculation in other Forums. However, I discovered that one analyst actually maintains an 'Economic Vice' index.

    from

    (snip)Vice spending is one of the most seldom used, but surprisingly accurate leading gauges of consumer strength and the economy. Everyone knows that when consumers have more money in hand, they spend it on fun and luxury goods. That includes gambling, prostitutes, booze and narcotics. Like any other luxury good, vice spending is a leading indicator: demand is quick to pick up when times are good and turns down fast when belt-tightening is the order of the day.(snip)

    (snip)The Moneyball Economics Vice Index is the first index that quantifies these forms of spending. It has been shown to accurately lead consumer spending by at least two months. Right now, it is showing evidence of subdued consumer spending over the past few months.

    In fact, the Index just slipped to 100. A figure below 100 means that consumer spending is actually contracting. No doubt a lot of the recent sluggishness is weather related, but the trend is undeniable: consumers are spending less on the fun stuff, and that means more belt-tightening is about to occur.





    (snip)Next month will be interesting to watch, by which point we’ll be past any weather-related issues that might be putting a damper on playtime. Nothing says pent-up demand like vice spending.

    If the Index continues to signal a pullback in spending is indeed forecast, then that’s a sign that the broader economy is poised to slow. It’s time to get defensive with stock portfolios and re-balance closer to the Early Bear investments like consumer non-cyclicals, healthcare and utilities.

    Hookernomics: Touring Escorts An Ominous Sign

    When Van Halen goes on tour, it’s to greet the fans and boost the paycheck. Similarly, when an escort goes on tour, it’s to press the flesh and get some money. Except, in the business of vice, escorts go touring because the local waters have been fished out.

    There are several key selling points in the Hookernomics business model which traveling escorts hope to capitalize on:
    •Novelty: “New and Improved” is a standard consumer lure, and it fits the escorting business as much as the toothpaste business.
    •Limited Availability: An escort who announces that they are “visiting and in town for just a few days” is straightforward Sales 101. Create a sense of urgency and exclusiveness.

    Tours are an expensive proposition (ahem) for an escort and a general pain in the ass. Travel time, hotels, transportation fees, dining out – costs add up fast. Also the tour is financially risky. There’s no guarantees of profit, which means that the alternative – staying put and fishing local waters – must be even worse. Simply put, escorts go on tour when the phones aren’t ringing enough.

    In a sign of slower business conditions, more escorts have gone on tour recently in their efforts to drum up new customers in untapped markets. Not a surge like in 2008, but still a noticeable uptick. It’s more a yellow light than a red light; one-step removed from being an example of desperate times calling for desperate measures.(snip)

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    Default Re: the 'Economic Vice' index ...

    Amazing stuff. Why such broad based and predictive demand could logically be considered criminal makes no rational sense. It does give insight into why the elite are attempting to stifle the vice trades - they take money out of the elite's pockets. Thanks Melonie you've gotten me closer to an answer I've been looking for for years. It helps explains why savvy successful people in the sex trade are being labeled "trafficked victims" when they themselves are able to clearly articulate their own status. #iamnotavictim

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    Default Re: the 'Economic Vice' index ...

    ^^^ Indeed !!! The linked article in fact covered a lot of additional 'ground' ... but I chose not to include snippets since it wasn't directly related to the adult entertainment industry. But the other topics also seem to share your basic observation ... that the 'powers that be' would seem to like nothing better than to find a way to ban 'cash' transaction based businesses of all types. Declaring 'strippers', escorts etc. as victims who somehow need to be 'protected' from the sexually exploitative effects of taking money from paying customers would seem to be an 'end run' toward the same destination.

    However, the applicability of the 'Economics Vice' index which got my attention was that it appears to be a relevant measure of the amount of money currently in the pockets of non-'rich' strip club, webcam, and escort customers.

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    Default Re: the 'Economic Vice' index ...

    Quote Originally Posted by Melonie View Post
    ^^^ Indeed !!! The linked article in fact covered a lot of additional 'ground' ... but I chose not to include snippets since it wasn't directly related to the adult entertainment industry. But the other topics also seem to share your basic observation ... that the 'powers that be' would seem to like nothing better than to find a way to ban 'cash' transaction based businesses of all types. Declaring 'strippers', escorts etc. as victims who somehow need to be 'protected' from the sexually exploitative effects of taking money from paying customers would seem to be an 'end run' toward the same destination.

    However, the applicability of the 'Economics Vice' index which got my attention was that it appears to be a relevant measure of the amount of money currently in the pockets of non-'rich' strip club, webcam, and escort customers.
    It does seems to be an excellent measure of "free cash flow". As you pointed out vice spending is vulnerable to downturns, I'd say because there isn't any loss of social cache attached to dropping vice spending entirely. In fact, in many circles, if a guy stops going to clubs he's seen as prudent and responsible. In the 2008 crisis so many mistresses were dropped it actually made the news.

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    Default Re: the 'Economic Vice' index ...

    Quote Originally Posted by Bahuba View Post
    In the 2008 crisis so many mistresses were dropped it actually made the news.
    This is true. An agency owner told me he had so many sheltered former mistresses needing to work as pro sugarbabies. 2008 really messed up a lot of things for a lot of people...

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    Default Re: the 'Economic Vice' index ...

    True that.

    Former mistresses who want to approximate the style they USED to live in.
    Former Playmates ditto.
    Former and current fitness models who found out that fitness pays even LESS than it used to. Insert "porn stars " and "porn" for another ditto.

    There is definitely a glut of gals on the high end playground and it is having a big effect on prices. Used to be $2000 an hour was pretty standard for a former PMOM. Now she is lucky to get $1500 and many get even less. The porn gals have seen an even bigger hit to their rates.

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    Default Re: the 'Economic Vice' index ...

    I'm sure that doesn't impact the stars - it never does - top earners seem to be like cesium clocks - but it definitely shows on the newer entrants to the biz.

    This also means that, on average, you actually can judge a man by how much he has to spend on vice :-) as guys who are doing well and feel secure are clearly expanding their vice spending, while those who are angry and insecure, with a smaller and smaller amount to spend are statistically doing worse.

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