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Consumer spending considerably weakened in San Diego over the past three years. From annual increases averaging 7.5 percent per year, in 2005 San Diego's taxable retail sales abruptly slowed to only 2.7 percent. After adjusting for relatively low inflation, the "real" dollar value reveals a decline of 0.3 percent over the latest year, with the pace of decline accelerating. The slowdown is clearly a result of the unwinding of the housing bubble and global credit crunch. Consumers who refinanced or took out equity loans on their homes to free up cash for spending are now mostly spent out and highly leveraged in debt.

How big is San Diego's visitor industry? How fast is it growing? Why do people come to San Diego to vacation? What challenges loom on the horizon? In the first of a series of reports on San Diego's key economic drivers, SDI's Senior Fellow and Economist Kelly Cunningham provides an overview of San Diego’s visitor industry and some of the key issues it faces in the future. Included are sections on the industry's workforce, the the importance of the San Diego Convention Center, the rise of Indian gaming, and Baja California’s value to the industry.

As measured by per capita spending, total expenditures on fire and emergency medical services in San Diego County are significantly less than the investments in fire protection made by the jurisdictions in either Orange County or Los Angeles County. Moreover, the gap between San Diego and these other Southern California counties has been growing wider over the past four years.

It’s not often that the American public finds lawmakers in Washington D.C. and Paris agreeing on policy matters, but a transportation initiative has built common ground between the two capitals. As they confront our nation’s environmental challenges, San Diego officials would be wise to review the lessons to be learned in the City of Light. At issue are “community bicycle programs,” whereby city residents have free or low-cost access to bicycles for urban transport.

Californians have reaped the rewards of the Internet revolution, as their community is home to thousands of high-tech firms and wired with billions of dollars in high-speed communications infrastructure. Unfortunately, a new report reveals that local Latinos may be missing out on these developments. If we are to advance civic participation in the 21st century, policymakers should consider new approaches to digital inclusion. According to a statewide survey released last week by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), the Internet usage of Hispanics in the Golden State has stagnated.

A week ago the New York Times reported that an analysis of new vehicle sales showed that Californians disproportionately tapped into the equity of their homes when making new automobile purchases. While 11.8% of autos in 2007 were financed in the rest of the country by purchasers tapping into the equity of their homes, during the same time 29.8% of new vehicle sales in California were bought by making a trip to the home equity ATM..Finance directors throughout the County should be shouting loudly at city managers and council members that there is a significant danger that the diminished ability of consumers to take on $20,000 to $30,000 in debt for a new auto will negatively impact new vehicle sales and, in turn, reduce the sales taxes that are generated from such purchases.