Men's Underwear Index

Men’s Underwear Index is an unconventional economic indicator, long favored by former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, which purports to measure how well the economy is doing based on the sales of men’s underwear. This measure suggests that declines in the sales of men’s underwear indicate a poor overall state of the economy, while upswings in underwear sales predict an improving economy.

Men’s Underwear Index is an economic indicator popularized by former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, which suggests that the performance of an economy can be measured by looking at the sales of men’s underwear.

According to this theory, which Greenspan began promoting in the 1970’s, an economy performing poorly will show decreasing sales in men’s underwear, while an improving economy will show an increase in underwear sales. The foundational assumption behind this theory is that men tend to view underwear as a necessity instead of a luxury item, meaning that products sales will remain steady, except during severe economic downturns.

Critics of this theory suggest that it may be inaccurate for several reasons, including the frequency with which women purchase underwear for men, and an assumed tendency for men not to purchase underwear until it is threadbare regardless of the performance of the economy.

The Men’s Underwear Index is just one of a host of unconventional economic indicators which have been proposed since the advent of market tracking.

Some other Unconventional Economic Indicators that have been promoted include:

1. Hemlines: First suggested in 1925 by George Taylor of the Wharton School of Business, the Hemline Index proposes that skirt hemlines are higher when the economy is performing better. For instance, short skirts were in vogue in the 1990’s when the tech bubble was increasing.
2. Haircuts: Paul Mitchell founder John Paul Dejoria suggests that during good economic times, customers will visit salons for haircuts every six weeks, while in bad times haircut frequencies drop to every eight weeks.
3. Dry-cleaning: Another favorite Greenspan theory, this indicator suggests that dry cleaning drops during bad economic times, as people only take clothes to the cleaners when they absolutely need to when budgets are tight.
4. Fast food: Many analysts believe that during financial downturns, consumers are far more likely to purchase cheaper fast food options, while when the economy heads into an upswing, patrons are more likely to focus more on buying healthier food and eating in nicer restaurants.