THE JAG FILE

IS OUR ECONOMY “GOOD?”

During the past few months, popular media outlets report that the “economy is good.” After years of disheartening economic measures, the recent reports of stabilized interest rates, increases in housing start-ups, and jobs numbers growing, a lot of people are breathing easier these days. But, as far as you and I are concerned, how does this translate to the world of historic military vehicles and memorabilia sales?

HOBBY BAROMETERS

Back in 2008-2009, I was writing catalog descriptions for a prominent militaria dealer. While we heard reports of a falling market, we were seeing record sales of military relics. With each news report of an impending “great recession,” we would joke with each other, “What recession?”

At the time, we didn’t realize that there was a lag in impacting the military relic and historic military vehicle (HMV) markets. The great recession didn’t hit our world until several years later — and I think we