Which Side Are You On?

A feminist economist could plausibly argue that men are dragging us into recession while women struggle to keep the economy afloat. After all, corporations (still mainly led by men) have slashed capital spending and job rolls, while retail consumers (a role in which women predominate) have gamely kept stores and their vendors in the black. This line of argument also gains support from the traditional stereotype of men as skinflints and women as shopaholics. But that part of the case doesn’t stand up to statistical scrutiny.