Is Porn The Harbinger Of (Economic) Doom?

According to some of the leading financial minds in the country, our current economic state is--what's the technical term? Oh yeah ... "not good." Consumer confidence is down, debt is up, and China is slowly poisoning us with lead toys that you can get for a $1.50 at Wal-Mart even though it cost you $4 in gasoline to get there. But that's not what worries Variety editor Peter Bart: It's the porn business, stupid! That's how he knows things are rough, because dirty DVD sales are down. We really are in trouble!

Except ... DVD sales have been trending downward for years now, way ahead of the rest of the economy's troubles; it's more about the changing options for porn buyers than a general lack of consumer confidence. Bart also claims that guys can't find "gonzo" DVDs, even though in the next paragraph he points out that online porn (where all the money is going) is driven by short clips devoid of any story or frills. Hmmm. (Also, "Deep Throat" was somehow to blame for the '70s energy crisis.)

Maybe there's something to the fact that when porn does bad, we all do bad. But it's a pretty flimsy link if you ask us. After all, what else are people supposed to turn to when they don't have anything else to spend their money on? Just because you didn't want to spend $34.95 for another Jenna Jameson compliation disk and decided to jerkoff to something you found on RedTube instead didn't force you to buy that bad mortgage too, did it?

· "Hard times ahead as porn goes soft?" (variety.com)
· Thumb via TeraPatrick.com via sxx.com, via askjolene.com