Quirky indicators

How strippers and dating apps predict recession

Strippers can sense a recession before it happens, according to one economic theory ...(Bild: Daniel Jedzura [e-mail])

When the economy is doing well, skirts get shorter: a good 100 years ago, economists discovered that social phenomena can predict the upswing and downswing of a country. Why this is the case and which bizarre economic indicators - from lipstick to men's underwear and dating apps - still exist: Krone+ knows all about it.

In 1926, the US economist Wharton Taylor first postulated the "skirt hem theory", according to which phases of economic upswing lead to a decrease in the average length of skirts and costumes worn by women and vice versa. An 80-year study later, we know that Taylor was right, even if the effect is not immediate.