Articles about the Economy

[title_1]
Could employee ownership help close the racial wealth gap? Yes — if more people knew about it
   August 31, 2022
Ely Portillo

With a “silver tsunami” of business owner retirements looming and major generational transfers of wealth on the horizon, employee ownership of small businesses could be an attractive strategy for many firms — as well as beneficial for society.

That’s what a group of...

Read more


[title_1]
Is the Charlotte region a 'brain hub' like Raleigh-Durham?
   August 22, 2022
Aaron Houck

The Charlotte region is a banking hub, an air travel hub, even a sports hub — but is it a “brain hub”? That’s the most important question local policymakers will find themselves asking after reading Enrico Moretti’s The New Geography of Jobs. Brain hubs enjoy disproportionate prosperity and opportunity, and the gap between them and other cities and regions will only widen. Raleigh-...

Read more


[title_1]
Fourth Gambrell Faculty Fellows cohort will focus on different aspects of equity
   August 17, 2022
Ely Portillo

As the Charlotte region reckons with both the immediate aftermath of COVID-19 and longstanding challenges such as segregation and educational inequities, the Gambrell Faculty Fellows program has named a new cohort of scholars to help illuminate the way to a more equitable community. 

The fourth...

Read more


[title_1]
Who you befriend affects your economic mobility
   August 1, 2022
Ely Portillo

When it comes to economic mobility – low-income children’s ability to rise from poverty – we’ve known for a while that where you live influences your chances of success. Now, a new study suggests it’s not just where you live, but who you know that can tip the odds.

A vast new project...

Read more


[title_1]
Searching for solutions for Charlotte’s affordable housing crisis
   May 16, 2022
Ely Portillo

With rents and home prices shooting up to record levels, it’s not news that finding a place to live in Charlotte is getting more expensive. Last week, the Charlotte Journalism Collaborative brought together local and national experts, advocates and community members in search of policy solutions that could help ameliorate the situation.

One takeaway: There’s no silver bullet, no single...

Read more


[title_1]
Mapping unequal health care access in Charlotte
   April 18, 2022

Mary Louise Orr Wilson, Malia Suhren, Margaret Phipps

Your access to medicine, lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines and other pharmacy services might depend on what part of town you live in. 

The Urban Institute recently updated the Quality of Life Explorer data maps to include several new metrics, one of which is particularly relevant as we enter year three of the global pandemic. “Proximity to a pharmacy,” ...

Read more


[title_1]
Explore local housing data with new interactive maps
   April 4, 2022
Ely Portillo

We often paint Charlotte’s housing market in broad strokes: rising prices, bidding wars and gentrification reshaping neighborhoods.

Updated data on the Charlotte/Mecklenburg Quality of Life Explorer lets you can dig deeper into the story told by those aggregate numbers. Charlotte’s neighborhoods are starkly different when it comes to...

Read more


[title_1]
What does the 'Great Resignation' mean for Charlotte?
   January 25, 2022
Sydney Idzikowski

More people than ever are voluntarily leaving their jobs. This phenomenon, known as the Great Resignation, is happening in nearly every employment sector and across a broad range of income levels. Fueled by the pandemic, changes in how we work, increasing work demands, other opportunities and more, workers of all types are looking for a change. 

Records started shattering in the heat...

Read more