Independent authors give the latest economy news and analysis through a nonpartisan lens.
New research finds the pandemic has likely stripped away most of the wage gains made after the Great Recession by California’s lowest earners.
New Economy
In the five years before the pandemic, low-income Californians had begun to see substantial wage gains, chipping away at the income inequality gap between California’s haves and have-nots that has widened over the past 40 years. But the coronavirus pandemic is “likely stripping away many of these gains,” researchers at the Public Policy Institute of California found in a new report.
San Diego’s Mohamed Morsy said he had a plan to introduce the world to his latest invention on March 17, but when COVID-19 prompted mandatory stay-at-home orders, he held off.
This is an independent opinion. Have one of your own? Email it to hoa@ivn.us
This is an independent commentary. Want to write one of your own? Email it to hoa@ivn.us
Over the course of 2020, public health, racial equity and authentic placemaking have surfaced as key issues in the San Diego-Tijuana region and across the country, as the coronavirus pandemic and nationwide protests have taken center stage.
San Diego native Deja Fields said Moxie Theatre changed her life six years ago when she was a junior at San Diego Creative and Performing Arts. The small Rolando theater with a mission to empower women in the theater and arts industry cast Fields as Ermina in "Crumbs from the Table of Joy.”
"Moxie helped fuel my career during a pivotal time in my life," she said. "It was the first role that I felt like a real actor. I was doing the work that I was called to do.”
This is an independent opinion. Have one of your own? Email it to hoa@ivn.us
The looming expiration of the city of San Diego’s franchise agreement with San Diego Gas & Electric may not be on your radar as a citizen, but perhaps it should be.
When Dennis O’Connor co-purchased the vacated Fraser's Boiler Service building in 2015 — he had big plans for the historic Barrio Logan space. It began with creating a production space for his brewery, Thorn Brewing Co., and was meant to be completed with eateries and a speakeasy with an emphasis on environmental sustainability.
The good news: The recession California officials predicted in the early months of the coronavirus pandemic has not been as dire as they thought it would be, leaving the state with a $26 billion windfall heading into the next fiscal year.
The COVID-19-related private event cancellations started in February, reaching a crescendo in March as the pandemic closed down travel worldwide. Meetings, conventions and catered private events, including weddings, ground to an abrupt halt. By the time the state and county issued lockdown orders catering and event professionals' suspended businesses were already facing hibernation at best.
San Diego’s tourism and events industry, which represents about $11.6 billion in annual total visitor spending and employs nearly 200,000 people, mostly shuttered.