Here’s my hot economic tip to beat the recession: buy glue shares!
No really, bear with me.
The dismal scientists have ways of measuring economic activity and the depth of a recession. Armchair economists such as myself keep our eyes on alternative indices, and watch for signs of the times we live in.
For instance, have you noticed that car parking is now much easier to find in Dublin, with fewer shoppers and motorists coming into the city?
And I think there are now far more cyclists in Dublin, both at rush hour (commuting to work), and at off-peak times (lots of people who are clearly shopping by bicycle). The downside being that it is now harder to find somewhere to park a bike in Dublin!
Other traditional economic indicators include new car sales, of course — and I still haven’t seen an 09 reg plate yet, tho’ it’s now nearly February — hemlines (down in a recession), and haircuts (short), and lipstick sales (up — women who cut back on big fashion spending will compensate with small cosmetic treats).
A decade ago, I remember ‘currency inflation’, when £50 notes (remember those?) replaced £20 notes as the standard issue at ATMs. This Christmas, I saw a €100 note in a cash transaction for the first time — but that’s probably the last one I’ll see for a while.
Instead, I’m looking for signs of deflation — such as the changing cost of a flu diagnostic test: it used to be that, if you could be bothered picking up a €10 note from the street, then you didn’t have true flu. Now, that diagnostic test will have to be recalibrated . . . €1 coin anyone?
With ‘staying in’ quickly becoming the new ‘going out’, I’m told that people will be reading more. Which is great news for those of us in the book business (and thanks for asking, yes, Drive like a Woman, Shop like a Man should be “in all good bookshops” now!)
But what about glue, I hear you ask.
Back in the 1990s, when I was working as a science reporter, I interviewed chemist Dr David Melody, who headed up the research team at Loctite (Ireland). And I was intrigued to learn that per capita glue sales varied significantly from country to country. Very low in affluent Germany, where presumably little mending was done, and broken things were thrown out. Very high in Italy, where there was a much stronger ‘make do and mend’ culture. In fact, so strong, that there was a black market in counterfeit adhesives.
At the time, Ireland lay somewhere in between. Something tells me we’ve become much more Italian in the last few weeks. I’ll be keeping an eye on glue sales.
And of course, lots more practical tips to beat the recession, and save time and money, at home and at work, in the new book.
