Restaurant spending per capita

Between 2005 and 2022, Americans reported more fireballs and spent more on restaurants per capita, and the two quantities have risen together (r = 0.957) in a combination that seems to say something about how we now document our evenings. The meal is Instagrammed; the meteor is filed with the American Meteor Society. Both observations require a phone. Both are filed, now, reflexively.

Fireball sightings reported to the AMS grew from about 800 per year to over 9,000, thanks to the 60-second smartphone report form; US per capita restaurant spending grew from about $1,800 per year to over $3,100 by 2022, with delivery apps accounting for a rising share and the Applebee's-to-Sweetgreen range of the mid-market rebalancing after the 2020 disruption. Both are stories of measured-and-reported American activity expanding because the reporting-and-measurement apparatus got faster, not because the underlying behavior changed commensurately.

A fireball is logged. A tip is signed. Both are more easily recorded, now, than ever before.