Video games have long been described as “recession proof” by those in the know, and that sentiment has held true up until at least the end of 2008, when even the mighty Nintendo saw numbers slip, ever so slightly.
But this news about beer today is a terrible harbinger of things to come. Apparently, the equally recession-proof suds market is starting to falter alongside the rest of economy.
[S]omething was very, very different in the fourth quarter of 2008. Sales of alcohol for off-premises consumption were down by 9.3 percent from the previous quarter, according to the Commerce Department. This is absolutely unprecedented: the largest previous drop had been just 3.7 percent, between the third and fourth quarters of 1991.
Jewelry and casino gambling were also down last year. DOOM! GLOOM! Is the traditionally stable video games market, with unprecedented growth over these past few years, the next industry to falter?!