While the pandemic itself is far from over, we've learned a lot about how to avoid infection and even how to treat people who do catch the illness. We're also starting to see that people are sick of being stuck inside all day, and the urge to get out is growing!
And while economic indicators suggest that households have done well with rationing and budgeting during the economic downturn, people are also motivated to find jobs, start new businesses, and apply what they've learned this year to achieve greater economic gains.
Jacksonville has fared relatively well - both in terms of minimizing the pandemic and also in terms of economic resilience. We never really cashed in on tourism like the rest of the state has, but that serves us well in downturns when the tourist economy slows down. Jacksonville has a lot of heavy industry, commerce, logistics, and financial services - and those are things that tend to keep on ticking even in the worst economic conditions.
The future is here
It's likely that we'll look back on 2020 as a major turning point in this country.
Remote work became common and digital accelerated its conquest of brick and mortar retail. While stocks in general performed extremely well in the recovery, gains were almost exclusively led by technology firms listed in the NASDAQ. Politically, things are likely to calm down again as people adjust to the new normal of social equality and non-discrimination. Jacksonville's Human Rights Ordinance has finally passed, and while a few throwbacks may call for a return to the past, that isn't something that is likely to happen.
The only ingredient missing for a massive economic boom is disposable income, and we've even seen some hints that that might on the way up, too. Stimulus checks and increased unemployment benefits went a long way toward increasing household incomes, and people have gotten a little taste of what economic security is like. They won't want to give it up! So we're likely to see increased taxes on the wealthiest, but instead of investing that in corporate subsidies like we've done for so long, that money is likely to be spent reducing costs like healthcare - which leaves more money in workers' pockets.
Things might still seem dark, but remember that it is always darkest immediately before the dawn.
