Experts explain why Hawaii’s economy isn’t rebounding post-COVID, with Richard Ha
On August 1, Dr. Patrick Sullivan joined economist Paul Brewbaker, vlog host Richard Ha, and journalist Leslie Lang on What Would Our Kupuna Do?for a discussion titled “Hawaii’s Economy Tanked: Two Experts Weigh In on Our Future.”
Paul Brewbaker and Patrick Sullivan recently co-authored a white paper, “Hawaii – Losing the Future?” which was shared in Civil Beat. The paper discusses the lack of a rebound for Hawaii’s economy following the global pandemic. In the new vlog, Brewbaker detailed how Hawaii went from a post-WWII-1970s boom, with a per capita personal income 30-40 percent higher than the rest of the country, to the current low point of 10 percent below the national average.
In the original white paper, Brewbaker argued, “In Hawai’i, there is scant evidence of a coherent economic development or economic recovery strategy.” Both Sullivan and Brewbaker agree that a path back to prominence must go hand-in-hand with investment in human capital and the young people of Hawai’i.
