The dramatic images of wealthy neighborhoods burning during the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires captured global attention, but the damage was much more widespread. Many working-class families lost their homes, businesses and jobs. In all, more than 16,000 structures ' most of them homes ' were destroyed, leaving thousands of people displaced. The shock of this catastrophic loss has been reverberating across Southern California, driving up demand for rental homes and prices in an already unaffordable and competitive housing market. Many residents now face rebuilding costs that are expected to skyrocket. As the region starts to recover, communities have an opportunity to rebuild in better ways that can protect neighborhoods against a riskier future ' but at the same time don't price out low-income residents. Research shows that low-income residents struggle the most during and after a disaster. Disaster assistance also tends to benefit the wealthy, who may have more time and resources to navigate the paperwork and process. This can have long-term effects on inequality in a community. In Los Angeles County, where one-third of even moderate-income households spend at least half their income on housing, many residents may simply be unable to recover....

When it comes to tariffs for Canada and Mexico, America is ending the week pretty much as it started. Over the course of just a few days, Donald Trump'following up on a November promise'announced 25 percent tariffs on the country's North American neighbors, caused a panic in the stock market, eked out minor concessions from foreign leaders, and called the whole thing off (for 30 days, at least). But the residue of this week's blink-and-you-missed-it trade war will stick. The consensus among economists is that the now-paused tariffs on Canada and Mexico would have caused significant, perhaps even immediate, cost hikes and inflation for Americans. Tariffs on Mexico could have raised produce prices within days, because about a third of America's fresh fruits and vegetables are imported from Mexico, Ernie Tedeschi, the director of economics at Yale's Budget Lab, told me in an email. But 'uncertainty about tariffs poses a strong risk of fueling inflation, even if tariffs don't end up going into effect,' he argued. Tedeschi noted that 'one of the cornerstone findings of economics over the past 50 years is the importance of expectations' when it comes to inflation. Consumers, nervous about inflation, may change their behavior'shifting their spending, trying to find higher-paying jobs, or asking for more raises'which can ultimately push up prices in what Tedeschi calls a 'self-fulfilling prophecy.'...

Snap announced on Thursday that it's introducing a new 'Challenge Tags' rewards program for AR developers to win cash prizes for submitting Lenses. The company also announced that it's launching educational pricing and a student discount for Spectacles, its developer-focused AR glasses. The theme of the first Challenge Tag is humor and is open through January 31. The developer of the first place Lens will win $2,500, while second and third place will get $1,500 and $1,000, respectively. Twenty honorable mentions will get $250. To participate, developers need to register for each challenge, build a Lens in Snap's Lens Studio, and apply the Challenge Tag in the publishing process to be considered. Snap will announce new challenges each month. Lenses submitted for a prize will be judged on their originality, technical excellence, and theme focus. AR developers from more than 100 countries worldwide can participate, thanks to Snap's new partnership with AR marketing platform Lenslist. As for the new educational pricing and student discount for Spectacles, students, teachers, and staff from colleges and universities will be able to access a pair for a subscription fee of $49.50 or '55 a month. The standard subscription fee is $99 per month....

RealPage says it isn't doing anything wrong by suggesting to landlords how much rent they could charge. In a move to reclaim its own narrative, the property management software company published a microsite and a digital booklet it's calling 'The Real Story,' as it faces multiple lawsuits and a reported federal criminal probe related to allegations of rental price fixing. RealPage's six-page digital booklet, published on the site in mid-June, addresses what it calls 'false and misleading claims about its software''the myriad of allegations it faces involving price-fixing and rising rents'and contends that the software benefits renters and landlords and increases competition. It also said landlords accept RealPage's price recommendations for new leases less than 50 percent of the time and that the software recommends competitive prices to help fill units. ''The heart of this case' never had a heartbeat'the data clearly shows that RealPage does not set customers' prices and customers do what they believe is best for their respective properties to vigorously compete against each other in the market,' the digital booklet says....