The Men's Underwear Index: an economic indicator

By Kai Ryssdal

We talk a lot about different kinds of economic measurements at Marketplace, including CPI, the Consumer Price Index, and GDP, the Gross Domestic Product. But there's another measurement you may not of heard of: MUI, the Men's Underwear Index.

Although it's not measured by the government, it is championed by Alan Greenspan, the former chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve. The idea is that men only buy underwear when they feel pretty good about the economy and that when they start buying, it means the beginning of an economic recovery.

Quartz reports that the sale of boxers, briefs and boxer briefs is up $1.1 billion since 2009, which means maybe the economy is doing better than we thought
Information from:http://www.marketplace.org/2016/03/30/world/mens-underwear-index-economic-indicator

Just as the US economy has strengthened through the years, so too have sales of mens underwear.

Be it briefs, boxer briefs or boxers, sales across North America increased by $1.1 billion since 2009, giving credence to former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan’s theory, the Men’s Underwear Index, which tells us that by tracking sales of male undergarments we can detect the beginnings of an economic recovery.

cutting back the amount foreign tourists have to spend in the US. Both brands are suffering from a bloat of goods, leading to tons of sales promotions.

There are bright spots. Sales of full-priced Tommy Hilfiger underwear doubled in Europe and the US during the second-half of 2015,

CEO Emanuel Chirico told investors during a March 24 conference call, thanks to tennis star Rafael Nadal and a viral underwear ad (the video had over 500 million impressions in 40 countries).

Sales may be rising, but that does not reflect the preferred style of underwear waistlines.

We’re still waiting to for a clever economist to factor that into an economic index.

Information from:http://qz.com/649200/greenspan-has-a-very-accurate-mens-underwear-index/