FEMA releases new disaster measurement scale

If the lights are still out, that's bad news. One staple of economics and business reporting is the "odd indicator" story. Having done a few in our time, we know a good one when we see it. This morning, The Wall Street Journal offers a look at the "Waffle House Index," which is part economic indicator, part hurricane gauge. As Craig Fuguate, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency explains to the Journal, if you get to a town after a disaster and the Waffle House is closed: "That's really bad. That's where you go to work." "The Waffle House," according to the Journal, "spends almost nothing on advertising, [and] has built a marketing strategy around the goodwill gained from being open when customers are most desperate."