by ridgel » Wed Sep 01, 2010 12:47 am
US consumers are split into two clear and distinct groups. The ones with secure jobs, who are surviving the economic downturn are spending as much as ever, while the ones who war dealing with chronic unemployment have cut back sharply, spending only on the bare necessities.
I saw an article saying it's the same thing with the movies. Overall theater audience numbers are down, but studios are making more money by charging higher ticket prices for 3D.
My grandfather kept his job through the Great Depression. He was in Western Mass, working as a dairy farm hand and milk man, making $25/wk. He served in the Natl Guard during that time as well, and they trained out on Cape Cod. He told me all-in-all that he had it pretty good during that time. Supplying dairy to an established market was a good place to be in the '30s because it was still a very local industry. But I've seen the movies of the guys who built the Hoover, and then the Grand Coulee dams on the West coast. Those guys had it a lot harder - $1 or $2/day for dangerous hot dusty work. So then, just like now, there were some areas that got hit much harder than others. If you're a mortgage broker in Tampa you're hosed. If you're a teacher in a leafy suburb you probably sleep pretty well at night.
[i]US consumers are split into two clear and distinct groups. The ones with secure jobs, who are surviving the economic downturn are spending as much as ever, while the ones who war dealing with chronic unemployment have cut back sharply, spending only on the bare necessities.[/i]
I saw an article saying it's the same thing with the movies. Overall theater audience numbers are down, but studios are making more money by charging higher ticket prices for 3D.
My grandfather kept his job through the Great Depression. He was in Western Mass, working as a dairy farm hand and milk man, making $25/wk. He served in the Natl Guard during that time as well, and they trained out on Cape Cod. He told me all-in-all that he had it pretty good during that time. Supplying dairy to an established market was a good place to be in the '30s because it was still a very local industry. But I've seen the movies of the guys who built the Hoover, and then the Grand Coulee dams on the West coast. Those guys had it a lot harder - $1 or $2/day for dangerous hot dusty work. So then, just like now, there were some areas that got hit much harder than others. If you're a mortgage broker in Tampa you're hosed. If you're a teacher in a leafy suburb you probably sleep pretty well at night.