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Did you think that the media had exhausted, then flogged to death, then reanimated as a ghost, then exorcised with Santeria all the "how the recession is effecting our lives" reportage? You naive innocent thing! There are a few more stones left to be unturned, apparently, like the disturbing epidemic we're apprised of by today's Times: Candy stores and companies are reporting big sales, since "sugar lifts spirits dragged low by the languishing economy."

Economy Candy on the Lower East Side has, says the owner, "been wiping out of inventory," with people seeking solace in Tootsie Rolls and Bit-O-Honeys en masse, and his son, a 23-year-old investment banker, has to help out at the store on Sundays because he "finds the mood uplifting."

They probably ought to brace themselves for an even busier weekend as women all over the city come and buy a bag of penny candy just to make eyes at this eligible young fellow with an actual Wall Street job and a thriving business to inherit.

When Economy Sours, Tootsie Rolls Soothe Souls [NYT]