STAYING IN MY OWN LANE
Of my many faults, my inability to stay in my own lane might be the greatest. Perhaps it’s part of that Jack of all Trades personality that gives me the false impression that I know more than I do about all topics. I am well aware that I do not, but that doesn’t prevent me from offering input or direction where I have no expertise. Sometimes I feel like I am the “Where’s the Beef” lady from the old TV commercials. She can’t see over her dashboard so she drives wherever and however she chooses.
The purpose of this blog is to share some thoughts and self-reflections with those that are interested. Going on about things I know nothing about should be out of bounds. Yet I just caught myself writing a post as if I were an actual economist trying to resolve the cost and value of concert tickets 50 years ago compared to today. Here’s the summary:
THE ELTON JOHN EXAMPLE:
Going to see Elton John perform at Dodgers Stadium in 1975 cost $10. If you wanted to sit fifty feet from Elton at that show and you earned an average income, you had to work 1.7 hours to buy your ticket.
Fast forward to November 2022. To sit fifty feet from Elton at the same Dodger stadium cost you well over $2,000. You now had to work 52.2 hours to buy that ticket. That’s more than 6 days on your job. After “convenience” and, other junk fees and parking, call it an even 8 days of work for one concert.
In this blog post that thankfully will never be published, I went on to hypothesize how any concert is worth 8 days on the job. Or if 8 days is the proper value, how underpaid Elton was when he received a paltry 1.7 hours of your income back in 1975. I ‘m not sure how he survived on that.
THANKS FOR THE GUARDRAILS
I came dangerously close to leaving my lane and publishing that blog post. All it would have accomplished was proving to the world that I know very little about economics. It’s clear that the free market is thriving in the concert business without my help or hinderance. Ticket Touting, Convenience fees and other junk fees are not a problem for concertgoers. They are merely paying the amount of money they are willing to experience a concert event. Who am I to think that modern prices are based on greed rather than value? If we are the Frog in the Pot and don’t realize we are being boiled, we will continue to pay more and more until 0% financing is offered for tickets, then we will pay even more.
BACK IN MY LANE
Now that I avoided that misstep, I can get down to business informing you of things I know something about. I will begin a multi-part series on sound waves. Why some of them are smaller, and others are much bigger. I’ve spent many years getting to the bottom of this disparity and I’ve come up with some solid data that I can’t wait to share.
