The game of declaring any cultural sign an economic omen: Lady Gaga releasing dance music, hemlines, the return of the indie sleaze party, a good pop song. Recession pop was the soundtrack; the joke was that everyone was an economist now.
Proposed amendment: the definition should note that Recession Indicators was funny for exactly as long as it went unexplained. This entry is, unavoidably, part of the problem.
The definition implies everyone used Recession Indicators the same way. They did not. There were at least two camps by the second month, and they did not like each other.
A colleague described the office switching to cheaper coffee as 'a recession indicator' in a meeting and the CFO wrote it down. The meme has entered the minutes.
What does it mean? Write it the way you would say it out loud.
