Jack Kyser, the founding economist of the L.A. Economic Development Corp., has died, according to a story on the Times' website.

Kyser was every L.A. reporter's go-to source for a quote on the local economy. Whatever the story was about — Black Friday, port container traffic, unemployment numbers — he was never at a loss for a take.

He was quoted today, in fact, in a story in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune about a shopping center going into default. As he did so often, Kyser put a relatively minor event into a broader context:

“There's just a lot of distressed properties where the loan outstanding

is much higher than the current underlying value of the property,''

Kyser said.

The Times reports that Kyser was born in Huntington Park, and grew up in Downey and Vernon. He worked for Union Pacific Railroad, United California Bank and the L.A. Chamber of Commerce before joining the LAEDC in 1991.

It's an understatement to say that he will be missed.

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