No more long lunches in Paris, Spanish sex trade droops, and the 2p London sausage
Saturday November 15 2008
As the greed-is-good 1980s got into their stride, the commentator Joan Kron coined the term "conspicuous austerity". It described a fad for checking into Spartan retreats, starving yourself on lettuce leaves, scourging yourself with a cruel regime of early starts and exercise, and paying a fortune for the privilege. Conspicuous Austerity Mk1 was a voluntary form of trophy penance for those with too much money.
We're now in the age of Conspicuous Austerity Mk2 and, unlike its predecessor, it's directed at the masses and it's compulsory. But while the economic meltdown is global, its effects are as varied as they are widespread.
GERMANY
Once a month, the owner of a block of storage lock-ups in Frankfurt holds a second-hand auction. The goods on offer have been forfeited by owners who've fallen behind with their rental payments. Items put up for bidding recently included stacks of pornography, furniture, computers, TVs and, on one occasion, a pair of motorcycles.
FRANCE
The French lunch hour was once a lazy 90 minutes spent chewing the cud over aperitifs, several courses and a bottle of wine. Today, France's proud restaurant tradition is under severe threat.
Natives and tourists alike are substituting tap water for aperitifs and wine, and cutting out one or more courses, or simply walking on by to the burger joint or baguette stall next door.
CROATIA
Passengers on one Croatian airline were dismayed to find that when they ordered the in-flight "Fresh Fruit Platter", they were served a single banana on a napkin. Croatia is outside the eurozone and has been seeking to take advantage by offering value for money. One firm is advertising "Beat The Recession" deals on luxury yachts for hire on the Adriatic.
INDIA
India's biggest fishing territory, Kerala, has been hit by a double whammy of falling Western demand, coupled with soaring energy costs and power cuts. The power shortage has greatly reduced the production of artificial ice necessary to preserve the fish. Unable to freeze the catch, fishermen are forced to sell on the local markets where prices have slumped by 75pc.
NETHERLANDS
A Dutch-based group of Jewish mothers is promoting ways of getting the most out of your food budget. They recommend frying yesterday's Challah, a yeast bread served on holidays, and serving it to the kids disguised as French bread.
SPAIN
With tourism well down this year, Spain's hotels and restaurants are reporting a profit slump of up to 50pc. It has been reported that the sex industry has taken a hit, with many layoffs from the 300,000-strong sector.
One enterprising Gijon restaurateur turned the grim situation to his advantage by offering a Thursday special "anti- crisis" lunch for just €1. For one-tenth the normal price, customers are served soup, ribs with rice, chicken or anchovies with salad, plus bread, dessert and a drink.
Queues of 200 have been shuffling patiently outside the 49-seater restaurant, while the manager says he's breaking even on the bargain deal and benefiting from an increased weekend custom at full price.
BRITAIN
Britain's food retailing giants have engaged in a price war, with one chain selling sausages for 2p (3¢) each. Up and down Britain, pubs have been taking on the restaurant sector with recession specials.
One Scottish pub, Reverie, has no set prices, instead inviting customers to pay what they think the meal is worth. The owner maintains that the offer has the double benefit of getting customers flocking through his doors, and providing feedback on the quality of the cuisine.
Two years ago, a Norfolk pub, The Pigs, began exchanging meals and drinks for local home-grown produce. The barter scheme's popularity has soared in the wake of the credit crunch.
UNITED STATES
One marked behavioural change caused by the credit crunch in the States is that people are receiving far fewer advertising flyers in their letterboxes, and far more savings coupons from retailers.
Research has shown that in these straitened times, rich and poor alike are presenting savings vouchers at the supermarket tills.
In Houston, Texas, one venue is running a series of gigs billed as The Free Press Recession Thursdays where $5 admission gets you half a dozen bands.
The horses of America's West and Midwest have been suffering collateral damage from the recession.
With grain prices soaring, ranchers and householders have been taking their horses out into the deserts and plains and abandoning them to wander.
JAPAN
In 1990, Japan experienced an economic catastrophe when its massive property bubble punctured and the country entered a long recession that only bottomed out in 2003.
The Japanese responded by building smaller apartments, shopping in second-hand stores and embracing the creed of "itten gokashugi" or "selective extravagance", where they splurged on a rare treat and scrimped with Scrooge-like resolve on everything else.
Cabbie Koshiro Tamura says there is a smouldering rage in a public which feels it has gone from the frying pan to the fire. "Customers get fired up about politics and ask my opinion."
An Irish taxi-driver would be in his element, but: "Our company forbids drivers from talking about politics, religion or sports, so I just smile and nod."
