So what exactly qualifies me to apply the word “economist” to myself… after all, I have no degree in the soft “science” of economics, no history in academia, no trail of faulty economic forecasts (yet), no dubious peer reviewed studies bearing my name… hmmm, perhaps this lack of qualifications over qualifies me!

I find it most amusing that economists, whether institutional corporate/government employees or tenured university academics espousing a multitude of free market theories… they all seem to be very divided amongst themselves as to what would be necessary to create a fair and stable economic system, whether at the local, micro Main Street level or at the macro, “all will be flowing harmoniously if only an unregulated free market”, global level. Says The Economist commenting on economists in 2019, “…trumped-up statisticians with strange views about human behavior”. Alas, the epidemic of professional/academic Expert-Tease, “too impressed with their own intelligence to consider the unintended consequences of their policies”, has become the law of the land as capitalism slowly crashes once again. Hmmm… aspiring astrologers in the guise of economic actuaries? Sayeth John Kenneth Galbraith, “The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable”. Indeed. And some astrologers may actually be more accurate in their economic forecasts!

Another interesting observation, it seems many/most economists have never been self-employed, have never had hands on experience with the minutia of running a business, not even a teeny tiny, one man IRS Schedule C operation. I run two, both operational since the early 1990’s. Yes, I have “skin in the game”, as well as business savvy, “a good eye” and good luck. I not only “trade my own account” working both sides of the table as the buyer/seller, curator/owner and customer service interface of a small time, successful, vintage resale/flea market entity, Akashic Records and Collectibles (specializing in vintage vinyl records and sub-culture weirdness); I’m also a licensed California general contractor, once upon a time specializing in kitchen remodels, these days juggling kitchen cabinet installations and finish carpentry with the demands of the vintage flea market front lines. Or, to put it another way, as much as I love feeding people’s souls with my vintage vinyl and sub-culture wares, I still remain a Main Street canary on the flea market frontlines, navigating what often seems to be an increasingly precarious economic coal mine.

This combination of selling vintage goods and construction services, with a little perception management on the side, gives me a unique perspective not only on present tense consumer sentiment and the fickle reality of “vintage” supply and demand, but also allows me to bring a building contractor’s economic perspective on the currently free wheeling Los Angeles/California residential real estate market. Well, at least until the next RE market crash (2023?) comes along. I witness, in real time, all the after effects of the post 2008 crash (and now 2020/2021) “Quantitative Easing” magic money policies by the Fed and Central banks, AirBnB housing disruption, not so “Smart Growth” zoning deregulation, the massive influx of foreign money and Blackrock private funds into housing and apartments, etc etc… ie, the effects that all these concurrent inputs have had on distorting/raising home prices and availability, not only in LA, but nationwide and globally. Gee, ya think these inputs just might be affecting “The Economy” at large… just might be cumulatively responsible for the massive increases in homelessness as wages struggle to keep up with rising rents, astronomical home prices and now the predictable effects of QE meets supply chain generated inflation across the board? All that abundant almost zero interest money has to go somewhere, yes? And now, post Corona, as the globalists prepare us for the next premediated pandemic (oh. you still haven’t figured that out?), just what will the housing market and big city homeless situation look like in the near future as we slowly descend from our historic housing highs due to the Fed finally spoliing the party by daring to raise interest rates? Will the tax shelter foreign and hedge fund speculative money pick up their QE free money enabled toys and “rent seek” elsewhere as the historically predictable effects of inflation continue to settle in? Stay tuned!

“Economics”, Greek in origin for “the management of the household”. At home, way before Dave Ramsey came along, my parents strongly encouraged avoiding debt, spending wisely and living within one’s means. Subversive by today’s “debt economy” and credit addiction standards. “Economics” in high school/college… Boring! Our economic system of free market capitalism only gets interesting when it gets empirical… the English teacher who shared his fresh tale of a visiting the recently opened Rose Bowl Flea Market (c. 1973) the day before where he purchased a piece of rare California pottery from one vendor and resold it for ten times the price paid to another vendor/specialist. In house arbitrage?! (and without the use of a cellphone!! Ha!!)That got my attention… and also made me realize that all those times I’d gone with my dad to local drive-in swap meets while he searched for car and motorcycle parts could have been better spent doing my own treasure hunting. “Fifty bucks for that Fender/White pedal steel geetar in immaculate corn-dition? Naw!” Alas, “Woulda, Shoulda, Coulda”, lessons learned. Now, being very expereinced in knowing and catering to my customer’s weak spots, addictions and collector vulnerabilities, it seems my job, my ministry, as a vintage vinyl and counter-culture dealer is to know and pleasantly exploit yours, dear reader, with goodies that feed one’s soul.

In the late 1980’s I opened a brokerage account and began exploring stock research, speculation and investment. It didn’t take long to get humbled, and as time went on, occasionally rewarded. In the early 2000’s I began my subscription to “The Economist” (a “liberal” economics leaning towards the “neo” publication) and thus began my “formal” economics education from reading, and often devouring, the print version, especially the finance/economics and business sections. The other GREAT influence on my economics education, listening to (and often recording/re-listening) the investigative journalism programming on 90.7 FM, KPFK Los Angeles (Pacifica Radio Network)… which features weekly programing by labor economist, Richard Wolff, consumer advocate Ralph Nader, social political commentary by Chris Hedges… plus discussions with the guest economists like Yanis Varoufakis, Ravi Batra, Manfred Max-Neef, often featured on Thom Hartmann, Democracy Now, Letters and Politics, etc,.. a “progressive” economics PhD on your radio dial. (Full disclosure… neither of these entities are funding me. I am happy to pay them as a subscriber for the time and energy they put into their often outstanding content)  

I created the Flea Market Economist because I care (too) deeply about the evolution of our society, of our ongoing American experiment in “Democracy”, and how we might resolve our current economic injustices. We can do soooooo much better, as our current corona chaos is demonstrating, illustrating just how corrupt our “trusted” government institutions have become. Instead, we’ve allowed the multi-national corporations and the neo-liberal globalists to infiltrate and take over our corporate friendly government bureaucracies and co-opt our local and national economies with their lobbyists, legislation and crafted PR propaganda campaigns designed to conform and convince us that the preferences of a minority of wealthy elites with their nifty “corporate personhood rights”, supersede the rights of we the flea market attending human beings, the civil rights of free citizens, and the constitutional rights of our local communities to decide their future. What friggin arrogance!! Even more appalling… we let them get away with it. GRRRR!

And speaking of mystifying, “dismal” social economic behavior… Lurch, the Addams Family butler with his often low opinion of mystifying human behavior is, in my opinion, the epitome of dismal, the guru and godfather of all things dismal. And a gentleman. Dismal Dave? The study of economics, due to it’s often unquantifiable philosophical and boring numeric nature gauranteed to put you to sleep in ten minutes flat, was christened “the dismal science” in 1849 by Thomas Carlyle. Economics, mystifying human behavior and a gentleman record dealer and deep music aficionado named Dave?!… aka, your host, Dismal Dave, attentive to consumer sentiment while leveraging and constantly questioning societies perceptions, at your service. (wish I woulda thunk it during LA art punk 1976!! Gabba Gabba, who?)

All the above, in addition to the growing pandemic of Davos Man generated income inequality sweeping much of the globe, besides pissing me off and turning me into an economic activist, has long made me wonder, has made me imagine and LONG FOR, a social economic system/economic platform that demands a TRANSPARENT, rather than an unseen, “invisible hand” (apologies to Mr. Smith)… one that demands fairness and honesty; one that is regenerative and sustainable by local community standards, not Davos!; one built on integrity and TRUST (ultimately, the only real currency!) leaning much more towards mature cooperation and interdependence than greedy cut throat competition among its citizen and business entity participants… yes, the long overdue Transparent Hand to sweep away the pandemic of institutionalized and legislated Moral Hazard and corruption, so the American Dream of opportunity and FAIRNESS FOR ALL can be realized. Is this possible? Is Covid Chaos helping us to see the light and demand the possibility? Or do we still have much more growing up to do? Read On, my brothers and sisters, Read On!!  

Your host, “Dismal Dave” Lancon… attempting to stay amused despite all the reasons I shouldn’t.

All Rights Reserved © Dave Lancon May 2020. Updated 8/2022