Economists Alarmed by Growing Demand for Sausage

"This category tends to grow when the economy weakens... "

Struggle Meals

Is a recession coming? Who knows, but economists in Texas are raising their eyebrows over the recent uptick of consumers buying sausages rather than more expensive cuts of meat, a sign that they're feeling the pinch from runaway prices on, well, basically everything.

This trend was highlighted in the latest Dallas Federal Reserve’s Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey and flagged by NBC News, where a survey taker noted that more people are opting to make sausages for their struggle meals, which is online slang for cheap sustenance.

"As the economy weakens, we are seeing modest growth in our category of dinner sausage," this person is quoted as saying in the survey. "This category tends to grow when the economy weakens, as sausage is a good protein substitute for higher-priced proteins and can 'stretch' consumers’ food budgets."

The rest of the survey wasn't upbeat either, with respondents saying they're preparing for a recession because they noticed that invoices are getting paid more slowly, along with other signs that several key industry sectors are weakening.

CNBC also noted that corporate executives, who seem the last people to care, have also warned that consumer spending is slowing down at restaurant chains ranging from Starbucks to McDonald's — all canaries in a mine that something isn't quite right in the economy.

Meat Grinder

Inflation, which got jacked up during the pandemic, seems to be lessening with the consumer price index, one key inflation measure, being also remarkably smaller compared to previous years.

So why is the cost for seemingly everything super high and people are pessimistic about the economy?

It's true that inflation kicked into high gear due to supply chain shortages during the pandemic, but there's been strong evidence that corporations became greedy and price gouged consumers more than was strictly necessarily, on everything from food to medication.

That's not to mention the incredibly steep prices for housing, making it seem like the American dream is out of reach for ordinary folks while the richest among us are doing just fine.

And then you have the steady drumbeat from Silicon Valley that many jobs are in danger due to AI, while tech companies lay off scores of workers. Some of them blame AI, though many see that as window dressing for other reasons.

So for anybody who’s been paying attention to the sentiment of ordinary folks, cooking up some sausages just make cents.

More on the economy: Bill Gates Says He's Quite Concerned About the Global Economy