As the United States prepares for a COVID-19 recovery, policymakers need to understand why some cities and communities were more vulnerable to the pandemic’s economic consequences than others. In this paper, we consider the association between a city’s core industry, its economic susceptibility to the pandemic, and the recession’s racially disparate impact across six select metropolitan areas. We find that areas with economies that rely on the movement of people—like Las Vegas with tourism—faced substantially higher unemployment at the end of 2020 than cities with core industries based on the movement of information. Further, we find the hardest-hit areas have larger Hispanic or Latino communities, reflecting the demographic composition of workers in heavily impacted industries and susceptible areas. We conclude by recommending targeted federal policy to address the regions and communities most impacted by the COVID-19 recession.
Last week, commotion broke out in North Ogden over Maria Montessori Academy’s decision allowing parents to opt out of a social studies unit spotlighting Black History Month. School director Micah Hirokawa “reluctantly” made this concession, yielding to parental pressure for exemption from the curriculum.
Overlapping geography with race reveals the pandemic recession’s dramatic economic impact on Hispanic or Latino communities, reports Brookings Mountain West in a report comparing a half-dozen U.S. metropolitan areas, including Las Vegas.
Since at least the 2000 presidential election, pundits, scholars, and the general public have conceptualized the country’s partisan landscape using the blue states, red states, and swing states framework. But despite its ubiquity, this structure ignores how intrastate regional tensions and political competition imbue the divisions between red and blue America. Differences within states also anchor the long-standing urban-rural divide—a salient feature of American politics since the country’s founding.
Nevada has no publicly funded community colleges.
As lawmakers discuss how to hold former President Donald Trump accountable for his role in inciting an attack on the heart of democracy, President Joe Biden must prioritize solving the broader issues that increasingly plague our nation: right-wing terrorism and white supremacy.
Two UNLV professors find little to like about a Pahrump attorney's call to create a new state out of rural Nevada--excluding Clark County and Las Vegas.
The 2020 census will not add a congressional seat to Nevada’s delegation, but steady population growth and increased representation for neighboring states forecast the possibility of greater political influence in the near future.
Empty stages. Spotlights collecting dust. The fate of live entertainment in Las Vegas, one of the city’s most prominent industries, is yet again a high wire act.
The complex Nevada economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and recession can be explained by one letter of the alphabet – the letter K. The “K-shaped recovery” describes how white-collar jobs are able to prosper during the COVID-19 pandemic, while blue-collar workers are forced out of the labor market or subjected to unsafe working conditions for minimal compensation. Those on the upper half of a K distribution recover at a much quicker pace than those on the lower half. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, sectors on the upper half of the K include technology, retail, and software services; sectors on the lower half include hospitality, travel, and food services.
Typically these summary articles open with a statement something like “it’s been an eventful and challenging year”, or something. We will not, hopefully, have to resort to such hyperbole in future years – because in 2020, it has been true. Here in the Center on Children and Families, we continued to develop our work under the Future of the Middle Class Initiative – and there’s lots more to come over the next few months. (Check out in particular our New Contract with the Middle Class, a synthesis of big ideas to help the middle class and featured below.)
The Electoral College meets today, and Nevada's six electoral votes are set to go to President-elect Joe Biden, despite attempts by the Trump campaign to overturn the results.
In November’s election Nevada voters narrowly rejected Question 1. The legislatively referred constitutional amendment proposed to change the Board of Regents of the University of Nevada from a constitutional to a statutory body in order to more effectively facilitate legislative oversight of higher education.
The boom or bust nature of the Southern Nevada economy jeopardizes our growing gig economy. “Gig workers” are self-employed individuals who file 1099 forms instead of W2 forms to the IRS, where the employer withholds payroll taxes from their employees’ earnings. Payroll taxes fund government safety-net programs, notably unemployment insurance. However, 1099 workers do not receive many of the benefits that W2 workers do since they do not pay into those safety-net taxes.
As the Christmas and New Year’s holidays loom in less than a month, visitors to Las Vegas are coming at a snail’s pace, prompting some officials to suggest the city needs to diversify beyond just tourism even with the prospect of coronavirus vaccinations pending.
A surge of COVID-19 cases in correctional facilities is not only endangering the lives of tens of thousands of people behind bars in Nevada, it’s threatening the health and well-being of everyone in our communities.
John Beckmann has been hosting Las Vegas casinos for 20 years, attracting players with free airfare, show tickets, and the like.
John Beckmann has been a Las Vegas casino host for 20 years, luring gamblers with free airfare, show tickets and the like.
Las Vegas is known around the world as a place for fun and gambling at flashy mega-resorts, with tens of millions of visitors arriving annually.
Brookings Mountain West and The Lincy Institute Executive Director Robert Lang and Department Chair of Political Science David Damore discuss their book, Blue Metros, Red States on Nevada Newsmakers.
Democrats made history in the Southwest in the 2020 election. As political analyst Ron Brownstein points out, the party will hold all the Senate seats in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico for the first time since the 1940s.
Las Vegas is known around the world as a place to party and gamble in flashy megaresorts, with tens of millions of visitors arriving annually.
Islam is being viewed as “a crisis” around the world, according to French President Emmanuel Macron. Following a series of attacks in France, the uproar of prejudice against Muslims has been surging once more.
Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre took to social media this week with repeated messages to “#StopTheGreatReset.”