ITJ 09-10/2013 Fit for an Oscar?
What symbolises a new dawn? The snow melting, the spring air? May be so, but they are part of the eternal cycle. Economic forecasts? They’re about as certain as the weather forecast!
Let’s have a look at some of the more adventurous ways of looking into the future, which are based on differing and unorthodox approaches. The so-called mini-skirt index is wellknown. It was presented for the first time by Professor George Taylor of the Wharton business school in 1926. The better the economy, the shorter the skirts. Econometric proof thereof was presented in 2010.
Alan Greenspan, a former chairman of the USA’s Federal Reserve, supplied the equivalent male scenario. If the market for men’s underpants shrinks, then there’s a crisis looming – because men start their savings drives with their own underpants. Things are even more dramatic for the weakest members in the food chain – people start saving on babies’ nappies in times of crisis. Its no consolation that more soothing ointments, in contrast, are then sold.
My personal economic indicator is linked to the Oscars. With nine films in contention for best picture, a film of a musical evergreen, politics on celluloid, singing stars, Amour for the elderly, a kid with a tiger and a hard-drinking teddy bear we witnessed creativity as far as the eye could see. There wasn’t an ingredient missing from this year’s cocktail.
What prospects!
You’ll find a similar degree of diversity in the latest edition of your ITJ, including a special supplement illustrating the incredibly broad range of project cargo and heavylift logistics solutions the industry has to offer. I hope you enjoy the present issue – and the future too!
Christian Doepgen
Editor-in-chief