Yesterday, Nicole McClelland pointed out that there appears to be a direct relationship between tie width and economic prosperity, as well as indications that both hemlines and lipstick sales rise when finances fall. It got me to thinking: what other cultural trends might correspond to recessions? Glancing around the iTunes Top 100, there's one recent pop music phenomenon that may be a candidate: the swing, or "shuffle" rhythm. Okay crazy, you're thinking, big band hasn't exactly taken over the pop charts. Indeed, but stay with me: I'm just talking about the meter. In swing rhythms, each beat is separated into triplets, rather than 8th or 16th notes. Most pop music falls into the latter category, but every once in a while you get a track with swing: Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll Part 2," for instance. However, recently, there has been a barrage of straight up pop hits utilizing the swing rhythm: Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl," Britney Spears' "Womanizer," Pink's "So What," and the current #1 song in the U.S., Flo Rida's "Right Round," which manages to add a swing rhythm to the robotic Dead or Alive original. (Listen to these tracks below). This is in addition to alt-rock tracks by Seether and Panic at the Disco, and even a new strain of underground drum 'n' bass that uses swing time, something almost unheard of in electronic music.