The Elvis indicator
“A Kentucky store manager said the return of Elvis Presley impersonators after a year-long lull may be a good sign for the economy,” United Press International reports. “Rob Baker, manager of the Doo Wop Shop in Louisville, said Elvis impersonators were absent from the store for about a year until last week, when one came in to buy a wireless microphone and another stopped in later to rent portable show lights, The (Louisville) Courier-Journal reported Monday. ‘Elvis is a dipstick, of sorts, for our economy,’ Baker said. ‘The party business is coming back. People are not thinking twice about having an event. They are feeling a bit more relaxed.’ Uric Dufrene, an economist at Indiana University Southeast, said Baker might be on to something by using Elvis as an economic indicator. ‘The increase in Elvis-related consumption items suggests that discretionary spending might be on the upswing,’ Dufrene said.”
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:-)