Economic Opportunity

At a legislative hearing today before the Special Committee on Initiative Petitions, Pioneer Institute Executive Director Jim Stergios testified on the urgency of addressing Massachusetts’ affordability crisis, slowing job growth, and continued loss of investment, and why a gradual reduction in the...

Historical evidence shows revenues rose after early-2000s tax cuts; FY2002 decline driven by economic shock, not policy

When economists assess a state’s economic health, private sector employment is one of the clearest signals of momentum. It’s a lagging economic indicator that corresponds to increases in business creation, wage growth, and consumer activity, so when private sector employment is growing robustly, it bodes well for a state’s overall economic outlook and health.  In recent years, Florida has stood out as one of the...

Net AGI Loss to Florida and New Hampshire Quintuples in a Decade as 26-35-Year-Old Outmigration Continues Newly released 2023 IRS migration data – the first full year after the 4 percent surtax on incomes over $1 million took effect – show Massachusetts losing more than double the amount of adjusted gross income...

This month’s edition of The House Call discusses results from a state survey of municipalities on accessory dwelling unit permitting activity. It also describes the debate over whether building codes should be reformed to allow some apartment buildings to contain only one staircase.

On Friday, Governor Healey opposed a proposed cut in the personal income tax that would put an average of $1,300 back into people’s pockets. Her claim that it would devastate the budget and gut education is a wild distortion—and it ignores more...

From April 2020 through July 2025, Massachusetts experienced a net loss of approximately 182,000 residents to domestic outmigration — the equivalent of losing one-and-a-half Cambridges. While a recent surge in international immigration temporarily boosted labor force numbers, new research from Pioneer Institute shows that underlying demographic, workforce, and economic challenges continue to threaten the Commonwealth’s long-term competitiveness. 

February's edition of The House Call discusses new legal action over Massachusetts' multifamily zoning mandate for transit-accessible communities. It also highlights a new federal data release that shows where many Massachusetts homeowners tend to overestimate - or underestimate - their property values.

Governor Maura Healey’s fiscal year 2027 budget totals $62.8 billion, a 3.8 percent year-over-year increase. The budget avoids sweeping new initiatives and largely preserves existing structures. That might be defensible in a period of stability. It is indefensible now. 

Context Pioneer Institute has previously gone toe-to-toe with the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) over flawed and misleading tax analyses—notably ITEP’s advocacy for the 2022 surtax on high earners as good for the Bay State economy. That argument that has proven to hold about...