Editorial Staff

Happy Thanksgiving from Pioneer Institute!

/in , /by Editorial Staff
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on
LinkedIn
+

As we welcome the holiday season, I would like to thank you for everything you do with and for Pioneer. We are grateful for your support today and everyday. We are grateful for a nation that has shown incredible resilience in recovering from a global pandemic. For innovation in the life sciences to develop and distribute vaccines. For learning pods, homeschooling, and private and parochial models that have kept our kids engaged, whether in-person or remote. For telehealth and regulatory changes to give patients greater access to medical care. For the MBTA’s commitment to infrastructure investments to improve service for the Bay State’s one million commuters. Lastly, for a business community that has overcome the challenge of extended closures, is now contending with unprecedented labor and supply shortages – and will soon face the threat of a ballot measure that could impose a major state tax increase. With your continued support, Pioneer will remain active on these issues and many more.

As we gather with family and friends this Thanksgiving, I want to encourage our community to be part of bringing our country back together, one dinner table at a time. Let’s remember that political conversations are not taboo, only those long on anger and short on policy substance. Let’s be grateful for the opportunity to be with loved ones, for all we have—and, most of all, for our freedoms.

Happy Thanksgiving,
Jim Stergios, Executive Director

PS – Giving Tuesday is around the corner. If you’d like to get a jump on making your end of year donation, you can do so here!

Recent Posts:

Sandro Catanzaro Takes His American Dream to Mars and Back

This week on JobMakers, host Denzil Mohammed talks with Sandro Catanzaro, who started several businesses in his native Peru but had no idea he’d end up helping NASA go to Mars, or that he’d use that same technology to plan and buy video ad campaigns. Now Head of Publisher Services Strategy for Roku, which acquired the company he founded, dataxu, in 2019, Mr. Catanzaro is an emblem of ingenuity and inventiveness. His demand-side platform, device graph technology and analytics platform help accelerate Roku’s ad tech roadmap and ability to serve a wide array of advertisers. But he’s not done yet!

Study: Systemic Failure in IDEA Implementation for Private School Students with Disabilities in Additional States

On the heels of a $3.8 million settlement for private school students with disabilities in Massachusetts for the state’s failure to comply with provisions of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that require provision of equitable, publicly funded special education services to students in private schools, a Pioneer Institute study finds that two states and three school districts around the country for which data are available also appear to be out of compliance.

BBC Classics Prof. Bettany Hughes on Athenian Democracy, Socrates, & the Goddess Aphrodite

This week on “The Learning Curve," Gerard and Cara talk with Professor Bettany Hughes, award-winning historian, BBC broadcaster, and author of the best-selling books Helen of Troy: Goddess, Princess, Whore; The Hemlock Cup: Socrates, Athens, and the Search for the Good Life; and Venus and Aphrodite: History of a Goddess. Prof. Hughes shares insights from her most recent book about the ancient deity known as Venus to Romans and Aphrodite to the Greeks, and her impact on our understanding of the mythology and history of beauty, romance, and passion.

Study: Graduated Income Tax Proposal Fails to Protect Taxpayers from Bracket Creep

The state constitutional amendment proposed by the Service Employees International Union and the Massachusetts Teachers Association to add a 4 percent surtax to all annual income above $1 million purports to use cost-of-living-based bracket adjustments as a safeguard that will ensure only millionaires will pay. But historic income growth trends suggest that bracket creep will cause many non-millionaires to be subject to the surtax over time, according to a new study published by Pioneer Institute.

Doctor Heal Thyself: Insider’s Prescription For Healthcare Reform

Host Joe Selvaggi talks with surgeon and New York Times bestselling author Dr. Marty Makary about the healthcare reform themes in The Price We Pay, the 2020 Business Book of the Year.  The discussion covers the value of price transparency, provider accountability, and performance information to drive better medical outcomes and improve doctor and patient satisfaction.

New Analysis: ICER Framework Ignores Patient Preferences, Innovation & Societal Benefits in Evaluating Cost-Effectiveness of New Cancer Treatments

Pioneer Institute today released a new analysis, The QALY and Cancer Treatments: An Ill-Advised Match, that examines the alarming methodological and contextual shortcomings of the Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALY)-based methodology in evaluating new cancer therapies. The Pioneer Institute analysis reveals five specific problems with ICER’s evaluation of cancer treatments and demonstrates the urgent need to prohibit the use of the QALY amid trends in rapid cancer innovations and personalized medicine.