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:

William & Mary’s Dr. Charles Hobson on Chief Justice John Marshall, SCOTUS, & Judicial Review

This week on “The Learning Curve," co-hosts Cara Candal and Gerard Robinson talk with Dr. Charles Hobson, a retired resident scholar at the William & Mary Law School, 26-year editor of The Papers of John Marshall, and author of The Great Chief Justice: John Marshall and the Rule of Law. Dr. Hobson shares what students should know about the longest-serving, most important chief justice in the history of the Supreme Court, and his influence on our understanding of the U.S. Constitution.

Drug Price Control: Bad Medicine for Healthcare and Region

Hubwonk host Joe Selvaggi talks with Dr. Bill Smith, Director of Pioneer Institute’s Life Sciences Initiative, about the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act on long-term health costs. They discuss the bill's unintended consequences, potential effect on the region’s vibrant pharmaceutical research and development sector, and what citizens can do about it.

The Realities Behind US Healthcare Spending

Healthcare policy is an all-encompassing term. It plays a role in every individual’s life; how it is curated, developed, and maintained has a significant long-term impact on the quality of life of any given community. It is critical that policymakers consistently adapt and amend healthcare policies in the ever-changing global pricing and affordability environment while providing funding support for optimal quality of care.

Cures for Patients, Not Health Plan Profits, Make Drugs Valuable

To the astonishment of many observers, the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) recently concluded that a $2.1 million gene therapy for a life-threatening blood disorder called beta thalassemia, is priced cost-effectively. The surprise was especially pleasant, given that ICER’s methodology had, in the past, displayed bias against rare disease treatments and undervalued the lives of people living with disabilities.

Khamzat Asabaev Wants to Put a Smile on Your Face

This week on JobMakers, host Denzil Mohammed talks with Khamzat Asabaev, refugee from Chechnya and cofounder of SoftSmile, a software tool that helps dentists provide affordable, quality orthodontic treatment. Khamzat pursued entrepreneurship to make basic services accessible to all, after experiencing a lack of access to basic care as a refugee and a minority. Refugees like Khamzat face terrible circumstances, but through resilience and fortitude, often make significant contributions to their adopted homeland, with higher rates of employment and entrepreneurship. That means they give back far more than we gave them, as you’ll discover in this week’s JobMakers.

METCO’s Milly Arbaje-Thomas & Researcher Roger Hatch on MA’s Voluntary School Desegregation Program

This week on “The Learning Curve," co-hosts Cara Candal and Gerard Robinson talk with Milly Arbaje-Thomas, President & CEO of the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity, Inc. (METCO) and Roger Hatch, co-author of Pioneer’s report, METCO Funding: Understanding Massachusetts’ Voluntary School Desegregation Program.