I am a little embarrassed to admit it, but I picked a fight with a robot the other day. Okay, technically it was a staring contest, but the tension was real. It was one of those sleek, autonomous delivery units, waiting for an elevator at a local resort. It had these digital anime eyes that blinked, feigning a soul. Read more…

For generations, owning a home has stood as one of the cornerstones of the American Dream—a symbol of stability, independence, and success. And despite the economic shifts and affordability challenges of the past decade, that dream is still very much alive. According to a recent Coldwell Banker survey, 85 percent of Americans still believe homeownership […]

You don’t build a person with a single blueprint. Instead, you build them with a thousand small, unseen moments. A question that cracks open a new world. A line of red ink that teaches you to mean what you say. A quiet nod of encouragement from across a chaotic classroom. This is a letter of thanks to the architects of those moments, my teachers at Lewis E. Rowe Elementary School, Helen C. Cannon Junior High School, and Valley High School.

While financial analysts brace for the looming $84 trillion “Great Wealth Transfer,” a far more immediate and entertaining economic story is already in full swing. America’s Baby Boomers (born 1946 to 1964) are the wealthiest generation in history, and they aren’t just sitting on their nest eggs waiting for the will to be read. Nope, they’re cracking them open and making a spectacular omelet.

In August 2025, the Summerlin South Little League team captured the attention—and the hearts—of our community by winning the United States National Championship at the Little League World Series. For a few electrifying weeks, Las Vegas wasn’t just a city of lights and entertainment, it was a baseball town.

My son recently asked why I sent him an email. The question startled me. He stared at his inbox like an archaeologist discovering ancient hieroglyphics and informed me that email is to his generation what mailed letters were to mine—slow, formal, and vaguely irritating. Apparently, for Gen Z, communicating via email is about as convenient as strapping a note to a carrier pigeon.

With the holiday season in full swing and the end of the year on the horizon, this is the time to take stock of the good things we accomplished during the past year and identify where we can improve. While most of us don’t document our New Year’s resolutions, many of us make an internal […]

The Roaring Twenties of the 20th century and the 2020s of the 21st century, though 100 years apart, present compelling parallels in their economic landscapes. In the 1920s, the world was emerging from the shadows of World War I, leading to a period of economic boom and cultural expansion. While the 2020s are yet to […]

At the bottom of the special Nevada license plates issued to honor the Vegas Golden Knights, there’s a simple message: Vegas Born.  The motto recognizes the unlikely birth of major-league hockey in a city where, before Bill Foley’s vision was realized, most of the ice in town was served in drinks. But the Knights changed […]

On November 18, Las Vegas will be at the center of the sporting universe when 10 teams comprising 20 drivers participate in Formula 1’s inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix. F1’s global television audience surpassed 1.5 billion during the 2022 season, translating into an average viewership of 70 million per race. Expectations are that those tuning […]

There has been a lot of talk about recessions lately. An ominous brew of fear and loathing, most of the nation’s economists are now projecting the United States will dip into recession during the next 12 months and pundits are quick to blame the Federal Reserve Bank for its aggressive interest rate hikes. The Atlantic […]

Tourism continues to dominate the economic profile of Southern Nevada. At the same time, the community is making great strides in diversifying the job base and the mix of businesses that arrive at Las Vegas’ front door. The Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance recently hosted the 43rd annual Las Vegas Perspective event that provided a […]

Nevada State Bank recently issued the 10th edition of its Nevada Small Business Survey. Businesses surveyed expressed tempered optimism about Nevada’s economy, expecting growth but citing labor supply challenges and consumer spending sustainability as potential headwinds over the next 12 to 24 months. During the past decade, Applied Analysis has surveyed more than 4,000 businesses […]

So much of our economic lives come down to a single decision: to save or to spend. Recently, we have seen heightened concern about overspending and rising debt for governments, businesses and households. At present, the nation’s debt stands at $31.4 trillion. This number is nearly six times the $5.8 trillion reported before the Great […]

Consumers have been on a spending spree since the economy reopened and stimulus programs rolled out. At the same time, four-decade-high inflation has also been pushing prices to unprecedented levels in the past year. All of this has pointed toward consumer spending patterns that have reached new heights. Quite frankly, since last year, I have […]

In 1849, French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr wrote, “plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose” – the more things change, the more they stay the same. Karr was a teacher, journalist and novelist, not an economist, but his statement could not be more relevant to our modern economy. Change is the only constant. During […]

Questions about where the Southern Nevada housing market is headed have become commonplace. Most recall the economic devastation caused by the Great Recession and the corresponding global financial crisis over a decade ago. During that timeframe, Las Vegas earned the moniker of the foreclosure capital of the world. In the blink of an eye, homeowners […]

2022 was a remarkable year. Southern Nevada reported record levels of population, employment, income, consumer spending, gross gaming revenue, corporate profits and airport passenger counts. Now, we head into 2023 with unprecedented state and local budget surpluses, the strongest convention and meeting calendar in a decade, a resurgence of international visitation, the planned opening of […]

A recent Wall Street Journal poll of leading economists put the probability of the United States going into recession over the next 12 months at 63 percent. Conventional wisdom is that the Federal Reserve Bank will continue raising interest rates to combat stubborn high inflation, thereby slowing the economy and causing gross domestic product to […]

In a state where nearly 86 percent of land is owned or controlled by various federal entities, the federal government plays a significant role in the destiny of our state. That is why it is essential for business and community leaders to join with our Nevada Congressional delegation to engage and advocate for the needs […]

After more than a year of steady and consistent growth from the pandemic, recent headlines portray an economy turning into rising headwinds. Inflation remains at near four-decade highs. Interest rates are climbing as the Federal Reserve moves to stem inflation. Stock markets face volatility. Supply chains remain stubbornly disrupted. Housing prices are dipping. This combination […]

If you’ve seen the dramatic “bathtub ring” around Lake Mead, the visual evidence of a megadrought impacting the Colorado River Basin is clear.  With the beleaguered river providing 90 percent of Southern Nevada’s water supply, it might seem counterintuitive that our community is one of the most water secure in the Southwest. The drought and […]

We are not defined by our challenges; we are defined by our ability to overcome them. Last month, the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance (LVGEA) hosted its 42nd annual Las Vegas Perspective event, and more than 700 business and community leaders heard about an impending recession, a drying climate depleting our water resources and the […]

As our nation has continued to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, a new theme has emerged. The aim is not to simply achieve the steady-state experienced pre-pandemic but to instead build back better – a challenge the Southern Nevada community has taken to heart. Over the last year, representatives from every municipality and leaders from […]

On Sept. 10, 1957, Southern Nevadans marveled as UNLV (then called Nevada Southern University) launched its first classes in a single building — the 13,000-square-foot Frazier Hall — which housed classrooms, offices, science laboratories, and a library. Surrounded by acres of untilled land, the new school served about 500 students, but more importantly, it stood […]

How does Las Vegas stay on top? How do we continue to be the most exciting, dynamic, relevant, in-demand destination globally? What is our recipe? It’s innovation + imagination + daring + risk taking = reinvention. From a small gambling oasis in the desert to A-level entertainment, themed mega-resorts, the world’s No. 1 convention destination […]

Small businesses are foundational building blocks of our economy. From restaurants to corner shops and business offices to construction sites, small businesses provide all-important goods and services for consumers and other businesses while creating jobs throughout the economy. Across the nation and in Nevada, businesses with fewer than 100 employees account for nearly six in […]

As we settle into 2022, dare I say that some predictability and consistency are on the horizon. These are trends that all members of our community are craving and desperately need. And, as we collectively emerge from the fog of the pandemic, it will become evident that our business community is focused and collaborating in […]

When I was a younger man, I didn’t fully appreciate why New Year’s Day was something to be celebrated. After all, to my inexperienced brain, nothing really changed with the flipping of the calendar page, except that I’d have to retrain myself to write a new year on my checks. Sure, I enjoyed the chance […]

As I sat down to write this column on the day after the 23rd Annual 98.5 KLUC Chet Buchanan Show Toy Drive ended, I stopped to check emails that I hadn’t seen since things got busy on the 30-foot scaffold. Every year, I get emails from people who criticize Toy Drive and literally ask the […]