THE PIONEER BLOG

Liam Day

I wholeheartedly agree. . .

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. . . with Sally Dias, Vice President at Emmanuel College and member of a state task force assigned to examine why Black and Hispanic applicants lag behind white applicants on Massachusetts’ teacher licensing exams. She was quoted in today’s Boston Globe, “One test should really not be a determinant of someone’s career.” Ms. Dias is absolutely correct. It’s patently unfair to make teachers pass a licensing exam when no other profession is required to pass a similar test. I mean, doctors don’t have to. No, wait, they have to pass their boards. Okay, so they’re the exception. No, wait again, lawyers have to pass the bar exam. Okay, so two exceptions. Nurses? No, registered nurses have their board examinations. […]

Liam Day

OK, today’s sign of a cultural apocalypse

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This one gleaned from the Georgia Public Policy Foundation’s Friday Facts, which, though decidedly ideological, are often hysterical. It seems the American Council of Trustees and Alumni conducted a survey of 70 colleges, of which just 15 require their English majors – not their general student populations, mind you, but their English majors – to take at least one course on Shakespeare. Again, I have to ask, Shakespeare? Really? Not Dreiser, Booth Tarkington, Sinclair Lewis or Upton Sinclair (Yes, I have a thing against early 20th-century American realism), but Shakespeare, the apogee of Western Culture and the English language. Now, the literary canon needed to be broken open and made more inclusive, but please tell me there is a place, […]

Liam Day

Only 7 percent? Really?

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According to today’s Springfield Republican, just 7% of American adults can name the first four Presidents in order. Not 17%. Not 70%. That’s right, 7%. And not all of the Presidents in order, just the first four, who among other things, drafted the Declaration of Independence, led a military campaign to insure that independence, drafted Massachusetts’ Constitution, which was one of the bases of the United States Constitution, and, finally, composed the Bill of Rights. Now, this has only tangentially to do with Pioneer’s current focus, but my predecessors at the Institute did, once upon a time, publish a report on the state of Civic Education in Massachusetts. Even if they hadn’t, can I just say: Washington, Adams, Jefferson and […]

Steve Poftak

So which is it?

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From the Boston Globe of August 9: Cahill’s sharply worded statement is the most serious political breach to erupt between Patrick and a major Democratic figure since his inauguration in January…. Political insiders say much of the breach between Patrick and Cahill stems from the decision last April by Cahill’s one time top political consultant, Doug Rubin, to join the governor as his chief of staff. The relationship between Rubin and Cahill has been strained as the two offices grapple over several difficult issues…. Yesterday’s public flare-up was sparked when….. From the Boston Phoenix of August 15: Cahill has long been closer to Patrick than most in state government — a source in the treasurer’s office says they worked with […]

Steve Poftak

Conventional Wisdom Confusion (plus a MS Word bonus)

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Organic is good. Walmart is bad. Right? So what happens when Whole Foods (a huge seller of organic items) forces its suppliers to sell through (higher cost) distributors to Walmart, thereby raising prices and limiting the potential market for organic food. So confused… Oh, and that bonus. We get to learn about the Whole Foods tactic from a poorly redacted legal filing released (and subsequently withdrawn) by the Federal Trade Commission. It seems that some poor soul over there ‘redacted’ the sensitive information by using MS Word to turn the background black to match the color of the type. An enterprising AP reporter changed the background color off, revealing the sensitive data.

Steve Poftak

Before we spent billions on public construction…

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…would it be worth it to reexamine the contracting process? Barry LePatner thinks so. (Plus he gets bonus points for citing Pioneer in the article.) He questions why the contracting process insulates the service providers from almost all risk. Then partially answers his question by noting that the structure of the construction industry is almost unchanged from 100 years ago. I don’t pretend to have expertise in the subject, but its a provocative read. And probably a conversation worth having before we embark on any more mega-projects.

Steve Poftak

CPA Point and Counterpoint

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We take a break from our usual self-promotion, to promote another think tank’s work — the Rappaport Institute has authored a study on the Community Preservation Act that has several major findings: 1) the CPA transfers funds from poor urban communities to affluent ones, particular to Middlesex County and the Cape, 2) it does not seem to promote affordable housing very effectively (particularly relative to open space), and 3) there’s not enough data on what the funds are being used for. The authors of the study make their case in this Globe op-ed. And are rebutted in this Globe op-ed. Both sides seem to agree that some reform is needed. They agree on the need for better data. The Rappaport […]

Steve Poftak

We should pay certain farmers to keep farming

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Sunday’s Globe brings us a long editorial praising the Administration’s commitment to the acquisition of open space in the Commonwealth, including a paragraph-length paean to the Agricultural Preservation Restriction program. This program seems innocuous enough — purchasing the development rights to key strategic parcels of farmland to preserve their agricultural usage. Even I can see some limited utility for this program, in concept, if it protected parcels in rapidly developing areas or that had important environmental qualities. But doesn’t this preservation compete with things like housing or commercial development? (Aha, the countervailing incentives for these programs are elsewhere in the capital budget.) Most tiresome for this observer is the location of many of the selected parcels, typically they are indistinguishable […]

Steve Poftak

Let the handwringing begin…

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CVS has sought state permission to open MinuteClinics in a number of its retail stores. Minute Clinics provide a limited array of medical services (think simple illnesses, like ear infections and strep throat and vaccinations) at set prices or through insurance. They operate in 19 states and offer an interesting alternative — transparent pricing, convenient locations, and no hassles with doctor’s appointments or emergency rooms. Not to sound like a shill for the company — there are some questions about how these clinics would affect continuity of care (i.e. its better to have a single point of contact for medical services who has an overview of your entire medical record) and screening for more sophisticated diagnoses (e.g. a case of […]

Steve Poftak

Will they return the money?

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Today’s New York Times reports that the ethanol boom, among other reasons, is driving up the price of farmland, particularly in corn-growing areas of states like Iowa. Good thing we’ve subsidized agriculture to the tune of $164.7 billion from 1995 to 2005. Click here to get the searchable database of farm subsidies by almost every imaginable category. And to address the story’s point more directly, farmers in Iowa have received corn subsidies of $9.9 billion during the same period.

Liam Day

Pioneer has a new Home Page

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In our continuing effort to bring more and more information to you, our online readers, we have just unveiled our new home page. New features include Mass Media – links to articles of note in local media outlets, both those that reference Pioneer and those that do not (We are aware, sometimes painfully, that it is not a Pioneercentric universe.); direct links to our research centers, including their snazzy new logos; and our rotating quotes feature – each time you return to the home page you should see a different quote from such disparate sources as Frederick Douglass, F.A. Hayek and the Massachusetts Constitution. And, if you’ve been to our website recently, you may have noticed the donate button, not […]

Steve Poftak

I love New England too, but this is ridiculous.

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I’m a born and bred New Englander, but I find it odd that the leaders of two major European powers choose to vacation here. President Sarkozy’s stay in Wolfeboro, NH has been well-chronicled. But the UK’s Gordon Brown is a regular on Cape Cod (at least until this year). Maybe a coast of Maine getaway for Andrea Merkel is in the works?

Steve Poftak

Save the Longfellow!!

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Our Legacy of Neglect: The Longfellow Bridge and the Cost of Deferred Maintenance Pioneer released its latest research report, Our Legacy of Neglect: The Longfellow Bridge and the Cost of Deferred Maintenance, yesterday. Take a look at the website we put together to launch the paper at www.savethelongfellow.com. In particular, you should click on the link for the photo-rich presentation — a slide show of beautiful photos by Pioneer’s own Peter Begley. The paper itself details the Commonwealth’s neglect of the bridge – there have only been two maintenance projects of any scale on the bridge in its 100 year history. But, the Longfellow is just a small part of a much larger story: the extent to which we’ve neglected […]

Steve Poftak

Welcome Aboard the Massachusetts Business Cost Express!

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A hearty welcome to the New England Public Policy Center at the Boston Fed. They’ve just released a memo detailing some of the high costs facing Massachusetts’ business (PDF, or link). Their findings include: Massachusetts does not have right-to-work laws, which “[m]ost research has found…. [to] have a positive impact on employment and business formation” Based on Economy.com’s Cost of Business Index, “[a]ll New England states are ranked as having high business costs, with Massachusetts being particularly expensive.” Using a Forbes’ Regulatory Environment Index, “most New England states have relatively burdensome regulatory climates, although Massachusetts (29) and Vermont (35) are ranked toward the middle.” Pioneer is pleased to have the New England Public Policy Center on board our continuing efforts […]

Amy Dain

Water water everywhere

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Managing Water Demand: Price vs. Non-Price Conservation Programs While the Commonwealth is blessed with an abundance of lakes, rivers, streams, and wetlands such as bogs and marshes, our residents use enough water to strain the water supply just about every summer.  The United States Geological Survey reports that Massachusetts’ rainfall and groundwater levels are average this year.  Still, communities across eastern Massachusetts, in particular along the 495 growth corridor, are adopting a range of policies to manage water demand and promote conservation.  Oddly, they often ignore the most cost-effective policy tool for achieving conservation: water pricing. Last week Pioneer released a report by Professor Sheila Olmstead of Yale University and Professor Robert Stavins of Harvard University that sites fifty years […]