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A shrinking dependency ratio
/0 Comments/in Blog, Housing, News /by Liam DayBut fewer younger, healthier people are joining the state’s workforce to defray the costs incurred by the older, sicker population. Thus spake the Boston Globe this morning and their assessment is correct. The Commonwealth’s population is stagnant. We are losing young workers even as we gain dependents. Their focus, however, is another matter. We must begin with the fundamental question, which in this case is: Why are so many young workers leaving the state? The easiest answer to that question is the high cost of living. And, yes, double digit increases in health insurance premiums are part of the problem. Its crux, however, is not health insurance; it’s housing. We should be focused on ways to reduce the cost of […]
Goodbye, Camelot
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /by Liam DayMr. Robert Goulet, the pride of Lawrence, died yesterday. You may be more familiar with his work in Camelot and Man of La Mancha, but for those of us weaned on ESPN, he will always be remembered for the series of faux-lounge college basketball commercials he made during the 90s. Pure genius.
Drip, drip, drip
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, Blog: Better Government /byEver heard of the “Heart Law“? It says that certain public safety officers who develop hypertension or heart disease shall be assumed to have developed said condition in the line of duty and puts the burden of proof on the employer to demonstrate otherwise. There is currently legislation wending its way through the Legislature, in informal session, with no debate or roll call votes, that will extend this law to county corrections officers. I don’t know if its a good law or a bad law. But our 2006 report on pension costs prompts me to ask the following questions: 1) How much will this bill add to the pension liability? and 2) Who will pay for it? Wait, I think […]
An Interesting Idea — Behind the Counter Medications
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Better Government, Healthcare, News /byA recent op-ed in the LA Times calls for certain medications to be prescribed by pharmacists. This suggestion is on a continuum with a few other ideas that move select portions of medical practice from its traditional delivery mode to more convenient and cost-effective (but still clinically rigorous) modes. Increasing the practice rights of nurse practitioners and allowing Minute Clinics are ideas along these lines. The gist of the idea is that for certain medications, it is a appropriate for a pharmacist to prescribe directly to customers who come in and complain of specific symptoms. This should be familiar to anyone whose ever gotten mildly ill in Europe — where the practice is widespread. Although this seems like common sense, […]
Murray’s Healthcare Moment
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Better Government, Economic Opportunity, Healthcare, News /byThe prospect for dynamic reform on Beacon Hill seemed slight a week ago. New initiatives seemed to be breaking down in a familiar pattern — Governor proposes ‘bold, new’ (expensive) initiative, Legislature promises ‘careful, in-depth’ review (and plenty of revisions. Then, Senate President Murray gave her speech at Wednesday’s Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce meeting. She proposed the following: 1) Public hearings to document the causes of premium increases above 7 percent 2) Realigning of payment methodologies to encourage quality and efficiency, not just the volume of services provided. 3) Increased recruitment of primary care providers 4) Allowing nurse practitioners to serve as PCPs for some patients 5) Permit “limited service clinics” proposed by the Department of Public Health. 6) […]
Fixin for a fight
/0 Comments/in Blog, News, Related Education Blogs /by Scott W. Graves and Micaela DawsonThe Governor has frequently talked about his openness to lifting the cap on charter schools, but only with a financing fix, which certainly means reducing the funding to charters below the average per-pupil expenditures within the district school system. Say community X spends $10K per student in the traditional district schools, the new formula would halve that amount for parents of kids in the district who choose to go to a charter school. That’s what the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents and Mass Association of School Committees want. The Governor has shown openness to this view, which of course makes charters financially unviable. I’ve often wondered about this proposal given all the court cases out there pushing for equitable funding […]
Home of the Bean, the Cod, and the Free Glass of Tap Water
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, Economic Opportunity, News /byAs much of the Sun Belt dries up, we may have to revise our tally of regional economic advantages. For generations we’ve been told to flee the Northeast for some air-conditioned car-ported open-shop Elysium. Today, though, the Quabbin Reservoir is making me feel like an early-’70s Alaskan. If we get our water-policy act together, the Commonwealth’s natural resources may, for the first time since the whale-oil days, actually give us a competitive edge. Please, though: no pipelines.
Dear critic, Do you or don’t you
/0 Comments/in Blog, Healthcare, News /by Scott W. Graves and Micaela Dawsonsupport the Massachusetts Health Care Reform? We get the question all the time, especially from other think tanks and national press outlets trying to figure out what this all means as the presidential election starts to show signs of life. (When presumed frontrunners of each party start hammering on each other, you know the line-up is soon to winnow down.) At the end of the day, Pioneer supports whatever will lead to better health care outcomes and contain the rising cost of care. It’s an empirical question, or to put it more colloquially, the proof is in the pudding. And anyone who’s been an in-patient knows it’s hard to be patient with what passes for dessert in the hospital. (Do […]
Brunch in Boston
/0 Comments/in Blog, Related Education Blogs /by Scott W. Graves and Micaela DawsonBrunch in Boston – or anywhere really – is a time to get caught up and let the conversation meander. No policy or politics this morning. Just some thoughts on kids, grey hair and Engelbert Humperdink. My brunch partner has an issue with America and its cultural decline. I know this is a broad and ugly topic, and it has gotten to the point where some blame our cultural loss for the Islamic Fundamentalist movement’s fire. Guys, I don’t get it. I mean, my sausage, yogurt and fruit (not a traditional mix, I know) was accompanied by Tom Jones over the wire. First we got the oldies-but-goodies like “What’s new pussycat?” with its deep refrain of Pussycat, pussycat, I love […]
Merit pay gaining steam
/0 Comments/in Blog, News, Related Education Blogs /by Scott W. Graves and Micaela DawsonAs AP and the New York Times reported, New York Mayor Bloomberg is intent on throwing everything and the kitchen sink at education. Charters, AP-specific programs, testing and accountability, and now merit pay. I know Diane Ravitch and Deborah Meier don’t think much of Mayor Bloomberg and Joel Klein’s reforms, but from afar we would give our left and right hands for the kind of can-do attitude and willingness to stake out big, structural changes. The lack of a new generation of education leaders on Beacon Hill is having its impact. Note the departure now of Mike Duffy of City on a Hill to, yup, New York City. The merit pay plan in New York is reminiscent in part of […]
Three choice selections on educational options
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Education, Blog: School Choice, Related Education Blogs /by Scott W. Graves and Micaela DawsonIn the Sunday Globe, Jim Peyser had a terrific (and hopeful) piece on the transformation of the New Orleans public school system. You think New Orleans is so different from many of our Middle Cities? Think again — and review Pioneer’s Rehabbing Urban Redevelopment. Failing schools, deep and troubling crime trends, and no economic opportunity. All that’s missing is Katrina. Then we can say how shocked we are at the “appearance” of a permanent underclass. Money quote from Peyser: The public schools in New Orleans were under water long before the levees broke. What has happened since the disaster, however, is redefining urban public education. Instead of simply rebuilding the old district, based on the old institutions, policy leaders in […]
Carrots for homes
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /byThe Greater Boston Housing Report Card released last week concludes that 40R and 40S “have established an impressive track record in a very short period of time.” Given the numerous reasons that communities cite for opposing development, it is great that the state has provided a reason in the form of the 40R/40S financial incentive to allow dense housing development in town centers, along transit lines, and in other areas that make sense. Whether the approach is really working is critical information for policymakers. Despite the slowdown in the market, greater Boston remains one of the most expensive areas in the country to buy a house, and our current pattern of large lot McMansionization is consuming too much land to […]
Very Off-Topic Post on Baseball Playoffs
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Better Government, News /by1) I never thought I would be pining for Jack Buck and Tim McCarver, but can we ban TBS from ever having anything to do with the major league playoffs again? And take your 9 foot lead line with you. 2) I am fully prepared to spend the rest of my life never seeing or hearing about Cal Ripken again. This means you, Chevrolet and TBS. Oh, and let me throw in Brett Favre as well. This means you, Chris Berman, Wrangler, and Peter King. 3) Is it wrong to be reveling in the joint NY agony of Mets and Yankees fans? 4) Plus the apocalyptic nature of the Yankees meltdown in the nasty, bug-infested Cleveland night, with wonderchild Joba […]
Always the last one picked
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, Blog: Better Government, Related Education Blogs /byI think I’m the only person that the Patrick Administration has not picked to be on an education advisory committee. I was fine when I was overlooked for the pre-K – 12 and Higher Education transition teams, consisting of 11 and 12 members respectively. Then, they went ahead without me for the K – 12 and Higher Education Task Forces, consisting of 47 total members. Next, I was snubbed for the Readiness Project Leadership Council, made up of 21 members. And now the final straw, no room for me among the 150+ members of the Readiness Project subcommittees. I’m kidding here obviously, but my broader point is this — how many committee meetings and members do you need to determine […]
Greek futurists, indeed.
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /by Liam DayNovember 13, 2007, at the Boston Harbor Hotel, Dr. Peter Diamandis will excite the imagination when he delivers this year’s Lovett C. Peters Lecture in Public Policy. Space travel, cars that get 100 miles to the gallon of gas, returning to the moon. These are ideas that can bring out the daydreamer in anyone. The thing is, Dr. Diamandis is helping make them reality. Watch and hear what he has to say, then decide for yourself whether it is worth a contribution to Pioneer to be there November 13, 2007. Who knows what previously-thought-to-be-impossible endeavor he may come up with?