On the column

This weekly column, “California & Co.,” will chronicle the state’s $1.6-trillion economy from the executive suite to the factory floor. Through a blend of reportage and opinion, Rick Wartzman will keep a close eye on the concerns of the working class.

Wartzman, an Irvine senior fellow at the New America Foundation, brings to the table 20 years of experience in business journalism, the last decade covering California. He served most recently as editor of The Times’ Sunday magazine, West, and before that was the paper’s business editor.

He is the coauthor, with Mark Arax, of “The King of California: J.G. Boswell and the Making of a Secret American Empire.” His new book, “Obscene in the Extreme: The Burning and Banning of the Grapes of Wrath,” is set to be published next year.