Happy Thanksgiving from Pioneer Institute!

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:

Dr. Adrian Mims on The Calculus Project & STEM

Dr. Mims navigates through the contentious "math wars" and underscores the pivotal role of Algebra I as a gateway to higher math. He also evaluates the negative impact of Common Core math standards, and proposes strategies to combat pandemic-induced learning setbacks and bridge the gap in math proficiency between American students and their international counterparts.

Contours of Content Curation: SCOTUS Hears Online Free Speech Cases

Cato Institute's Thomas Berry, talks about oral arguments at the Supreme Court in the NetChoice cases, exploring the First Amendment questions that affect both social media users and the platforms that curate their content.

Boston Children’s, MGH Among Massachusetts Hospitals with Highest Relative Commercial Prices

Pioneer Institute's new tool, the Massachusetts Hospital Relative Price Tracker, displays relative price and facilitates relative price comparisons among hospitals. The average price among all hospitals will have a relative price of 1.0. A relative price of 1.5 means that a hospital charges 50 percent higher than the average of all Massachusetts hospitals. Similarly, a relative price of 0.84 means that a hospital’s prices are 16 percent below average. Relative price data is collected and reported by the Commonwealth’s Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA) and is an aggregate measure used to evaluate price variations among different hospitals. It is recalculated annually based on data collected from commercial payers and includes information on private commercial insurance and commercially managed public insurance products such as Medicare Advantage and Medicaid Managed Organizations/Accountable Care Partnership Plans.

Yale University Pulitzer Winner Beverly Gage on J. Edgar Hoover & the FBI

Yale Prof. Beverly Gage, author of "G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American," delves into the enigmatic life and career of J. Edgar Hoover, tracing his formative years in Washington, D.C., his rise to prominence as director of the FBI, and his enduring influence on American law enforcement and politics.

Mortgage’s New Normal: Guide to Better Borrowing Amidst Higher Rates

Joe Selvaggi talks with mortgage expert, Trip Miller of Cambridge Savings Bank, about mortgage rates and trends and explores best practices for finding a mortgage structure that suits individual buyers’ needs.

Study: Ed Reform Has Improved Academic Performance and Equity

Over the past 30 years, rigorous standards, assessments, and accountability for outcomes have propelled Massachusetts public schools to become the nation’s best. Taking away the high-stakes component of MCAS would weaken the accountability system and lead stakeholders to de-emphasize the assessment data that drives high-quality instruction, according to a new study published by Pioneer Institute.