To calculate Proposition 8's cost to San Francisco's economy, Mr. Egan estimated how much gay couples and their guests spent on weddings, hotel rooms and tourism from June 17, 2008, to Nov. 4, 2008, when gay marriage was legal in California.

WSJ: Cost of California Gay-Marriage Ban Unclear

Workers are being sent home, workplace snacks and meals cut and even the traditional perk of beer, rum and (government-issue) cake for weddings and a free hotel room for the honeymoon was recently eliminated.

ECONOMIST: Cuba and the United States

Journalists are by nature a skeptical bunch, and all the more so when they've been assigned to cover a photo op. (The hotel had scheduled a dog-serenading opera singer, and puppy weddings.) But sometimes you need to set aside your attitude, not to mention your dreams of becoming the next Walter Cronkite or Edward R.

WSJ: Checking In at the Doggie Hotel