It also strikes a dissonant note at a time when the economic talk is of stock options, dot-coms and full employment -- a reminder that in the service economy, low wages persist even in rosy times.
Studies have shown that if you X-ray a university town from space, the most dominant pattern is tens of thousands of tiny dots, representing stocks of Pot Noodles crammed into halls of residence, refectories, communal hovels and vending machines, littering tables and floors, empties growing fur under beds and sofas, binbags overflowing with them in every backyard.
Although the nuances of the bursting of the early 2000s dot com stock bubble and the (roughly) 2006-2008 housing bubble were quite different, they did share some similarities.
Other regulators are investigating whether investment banks, including Goldman , Sachs and J.P. Morgan Chase and a small group of chosen investors unfairly profited from initial public offerings of stock during the dot-com craze.
The economy may be slowing and lots of dot-com stock options are underwater, but the top slice of income earners is still sitting on a huge pile of wealth and their free-flowing extravagance is expected to propel such top purveyors of gilded baubles and designer delectables as Tiffany & Company, Neiman Marcus Group and LVMH-Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton into yet another banner financial year.
The dot-com bust killed off the promise of stock options for anyone who showed up.
More than a decade ago, in the midst of dot-com stock mania, an innovative young company called Foliofn came into FORBES to pitch editors on a revolutionary new way to invest, cutting out established Wall Street firms and allowing individual investors to become mutual fund managers.
He then lost his personal fortune in the dot-com crash, but kept a promise to donate $30 million worth of stock to charity.
"Look at the course of the valuation of Amazon dot-com stock.
This time, though, it's not the share price of a dot-com stock; it's the number of dot-com advertisers buying commercials during the Super Bowl.
