# In This Economy "In This Economy" is a catchphrase used to brush off any suggestion by blaming the state of the economy, almost always in contexts where money has nothing to do with it. It blew up during the 2008 Great Recession, flipped into online irony, and powered one of Tumblr and X's stickiest reaction templates, "X? In this economy?!" ## Origin The sincere version of the phrase crept into American speech during the Great Recession, which ran from December 2007 to June 2009 and pushed unemployment to 10 percent[1]. By 2008 X users were already posting "not in this economy" as a glib brush-off, and on March 10, 2009, a now-deleted Redditor opened an r/AskReddit thread titled "Does anyone else hate the phrase 'in this economy?' I can't stand it, but I hear it everywhere!"[3]. One month later, on April 11, 2009, YouTuber TheFullGinsburg published a supercut of newscasters and politicians saying it on repeat[2]. - **Platform:** Cable news (original phrase) / Tumblr & X (viral template) - **Creator:** Unknown - **Date:** 2008 ## Overview The joke runs on a mismatch between the earnest grown-up excuse the phrase was invented for and the trivial or absurd subject a poster drops into it. The template is a two-beat question and dismissal, like "Monogamy? In this economy? It takes seven people to buy a house"[11] or "Serotonin? In this economy?"[9]. The absurdity scales with the subject's distance from actual money. Tone-wise it reads as mock-weary and ironically middle-aged, borrowing the cadence of pundits and relatives who use the real version. Urban Dictionary's 2011 entry pegged it as "a preface or tagline used to mollify or quantify any ridiculous or unscrupulous action or statement"[7], and the meme kept that function while bending it toward serotonin, Live Laugh Love posters, and loyalty to a crime boss[4]. ## How to Use Users typically pair "In this economy?" with a subject that has nothing to do with money, framing it as a short two-beat response. The common convention is to pick something small, abstract, or absurdly non-financial, like serotonin, monogamy, basic emotions, or a decorative poster, so the mock-outrage reads as deadpan irony rather than a real complaint. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is In This Economy? It's a catchphrase used to decline or dismiss anything by invoking the state of the economy, usually in contexts where money is irrelevant[4]. ### Where did In This Economy come from? The sincere version spread during the 2008 Great Recession[1], and online ironic use picked up on X and Reddit the same year[3]. ### What does In This Economy mean? As a sincere phrase it means "that's too expensive right now"; as a meme it mocks that excuse by applying it to things that cost nothing, like serotonin or monogamy[7]. ### How do you use In This Economy? Pair "In this economy?" with a non-financial subject in a short two-beat reply, like @idlyoccupied's "Monogamy? In this economy?"[11] ### Is In This Economy still popular? The format saw heavy reposting through 2021 and 2022, with @idlyoccupied's monogamy tweet reaching over 21,000 likes[11] and a Facebook repost later pulling over 150,000 reactions[4]. ## References 1. [https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/great-recession-of-200709]() 2. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ3Sq_dy0g8]() 3. [https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/83o6i/does_anyone_else_hate_the_phrase_in_this_economy/]() 4. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/in-this-economy]() 5. [https://twitter.com/jvannoord/status/152536609634516992]() 6. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wKm--j1egQ]() 7. [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=In%20This%20Economy]() 8. [https://rockboci.tumblr.com/post/178036426068]() 9. [https://ifunny.co/picture/serotonin-in-this-economy-this-is-it-we-ve-found-fmizoJ9j6]() 10. [https://twitter.com/IsabelSteckel/status/1248691873541128193]() 11. [https://twitter.com/idlyoccupied/status/1455627155921121280]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/in-this-economy Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library