And yet, while the impulse to just “get back to normal” is understandable, we would suggest that achieving merely a return to “normalcy” may not be sufficient — either for Indiana’s long-term economic growth, or for the well-being of many of its residents. That’s because the pre-crisis era was in fact a period of economic difficulty for many Hoosiers. In our recent report, “State of renewal: Charting a new course for Indiana’s economic growth and inclusion,” we show that the pandemic has exacerbated several “preexisting conditions” in the state economy: pre-COVID problems that will require treatment if the state is to flourish.