You cheapskates are really ruining this economy. First, you decided you couldn’t afford to gamble. And now you’re giving up on another industry that could be crucial to pumping up our flaccid economy: porn. According to The Economist, revenues in the $6 billion a year adult entertainment industry have dropped by 30%-50%, with some producers claiming that they’re down by as much as 80%. Film production has dropped from 5,000 to 6,000 a year to about 3,000 to 4,000.

The real pain is being felt by the actors, and not just by those who specialize in scenes involving leather, latex or gardening tools:

For the 1,200 active performers in the Valley this means less action and more hardship. A young woman without [Nina] Hartley’s name-recognition might have charged $1,000 for a straight scene before the crisis, but gets $800 or less now. Men are worse hit. If they averaged $500 for a straight scene in 2007, they are now lucky to get $300.

In addition to the recession, the industry is fighting an even greater evil: free and cheap porn on the internet. Porn, says actress Nina Hartley, is now “like potato chips, everywhere and cheap, to be consumed and tossed.” Um, ah, oh, never mind.

Hard times [The Economist]

(Photo: Great Beyond)

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