The long and short of it
Fashionomics followers will be familiar with the Hemline Index, a theory presented by economist George Taylor in 1926 that suggests that hemlines on women’s dresses rise along with stock prices.
Based on this theory, micro-minis can be seen in good times as women take more risks, while maxi dresses (floor-sweeping dresses) reflect uncertainty and conservatism during a recession.
Looking forward to 2011, many analysts expect reasonable global growth of 4.5-5 percent and equities are the No.1 favoured asset class among investors after the benchmark MSCI index has risen more than 9 percent so far this year.
But are we likely to see more mini skirts? Dana Thomas, author of “Delux: How Luxury Lost its Lustre” writes that “longer and stronger” is the latest trend for skirts as the long skirt makes a sudden rise.
“Long, lean and fitted, in fluid fabrics such as jersey and satin, the skirt is being celebrated everwhere from Michael Kors to Robert Cavalli, Dolce & Gabbana, Erdem and Marc Jacobs,” fashion writer Thomas wrote in the FT.
Women and economics, an online exhibit
A new exhibit called Economica: Women and the Global Economy is offering up an online look at how half the world’s population is making it through the current economic turbulence, in which, it says, women are “uniquely impacted”.
Presented by the web-based International Museum of Women, it consists of a series of slide shows looking at issues ranging from the impact of the U.S. mortgage crisis on families to survivng in Egyot with a shortage of bread to Middle East businesswomen redefining roles.
It also looks at credit for women in Latin America, growing debt in India and “Womb Economics”, which questions whether women are paying for China’s economic prosperity with policies that encourage abortion.
Why is the economy a women’s issue, the organisers ask?
- Women make up 70% of the world’s population living in extreme poverty.
- Women own only 1% of the world’s land.
- Women are also the fastest growing group of the world’s entrepreneurs and professionals, making up 53% of the world’s current university students.
You can find the exhibit here.
How to silence Larry Summers
White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers is rarely at a loss for words, which makes Tuesday’s question-and-answer session at the National Press Club in Washington downright astonishing.
Summers, whose term as president of Harvard University ended rather abruptly after he made some unfortunate remarks about women and math and science aptitude, knew he was on very thin ice when he was asked a question about gender differences in retirement savings.
As soon as the question was asked, laughter spread around the room. Summers himself paused for a good 20 seconds before cracking a joke about how the question must have frightened his staff.
“Now you have just put their health at risk,” he said. “I think I will move to the next question.”
UPDATE:
See the full clip below:
Welcome to the “He-cession”
As men bear the brunt of the economic downturn, could the so-called “he-cession” hold a silver lining for the opposite sex?
Men make up 82 percent of all recessionary job losses in the United States, according to a recent New York Times article, mostly due to declines in traditionally male fields like construction, where the unemployment rate skyrocketed from to 21 percent in March, from 12 percent a year earlier.
The unemployment rate for adult men was 8.8 percent in March compared to 7 percent for adult women.
Male-dominated Wall Street lost 3,100 workers in March 2009 alone, depleting New York City’s most important employer to just 169,200 workers, the state’s Labor Department records show.
Women are picking up the slack, with many finding themselves as the sole breadwinners for their families — although the jobs held by women are often lower-paying with fewer benefits.
Nasreen Mohammed, for example, works five days a week, 51 weeks a year, without sick days or health benefits.
Its not really just a he-cession in terms of debt, just in terms of employment. More women have run up personal debt, and far more women have sub-prime mortgages: http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm?a id=3891
With mass layoffs, employers are afraid to layoff women. Citigroup recently laid-off a disproportionate number of women, and was immediately slapped with gender discrimination charges which will turn into a class action: http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/cas e/citigroup-gender-discrimination-class- action.html?ref=rss
With huge potential exposure and legal costs related to even bogus gender discrimination claims, companies may be rational to believe it makes better financial sense to keep unproductive women on thee payroll than to retain productive guys.
Its not just a he-cession, but rather a he-cline – as in decline of our economy and civilization. China, India, and other up-and-coming economic powers are not saddled with such foolishness. Guyinism takes hold soon, they will rule the future, and, despite all the employment advantages women in this country have, including but not limited to preferential hiring and school admission practices, many more attractive American women will likely seek to emigrate to marry guys from those countries, where the birth rate for guys is far higher than for women due to selective abortion. The rest of us will be stuck here cleaning up the mess.
