Editorial Staff

Small Business Life Support: Policy Relief for Firms Sickened by COVID?

/0 Comments/in , , , , , /by Editorial Staff
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on
LinkedIn
+

Host Joe Selvaggi talks with Pioneer Institute’s Andrew Mikula and Retailers Association of Massachusetts’ Jon Hurst about the state of small business in Massachusetts six months into the pandemic. They discuss the observations and recommendations of Pioneer’s new report, “The Long View: A Public Policy Roadmap for Saving Small Businesses During the COVID-19 Recovery Period.”

Interview Guest

Jon Hurst has served as President of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts (RAM) since 1990. As CEO of the 4,000-member statewide trade association, Hurst manages the member services, education and public affairs of the organization.

Hurst also serves as Chairman of the Board of the MA Retail Merchants Workers Compensation Group, Inc., a non-profit group organized by RAM in 1991. He also heads the Retailers Association of Massachusetts Health Insurance Cooperative, the first non-profit small business health insurance cooperative authorized in 2012 by the state.

Hurst has served on various state advisory boards, including current roles with the Economic Development Planning Council, the Statewide Healthcare Quality Advisory Committee, the Health Policy Commission Advisory Council, and the Workforce Competitive Trust Fund Advisory Committee. Hurst has served on numerous non-profit boards, including the Beverly YMCA, Beverly Main Streets, the National Retail Federation, and also served as Chairman of the National Association of State Retail Association Executives.

Co-Host

Andrew Mikula is a Research Assistant at Pioneer Institute. Mr. Mikula was pre­viously a Lovett & Ruth Peters Economic Opportunity Fellow at Pioneer Institute and studied economics at Bates College. He recently co-authored Pioneer’s report, “The Long View: A Public Policy Roadmap for Saving Small Businesses During the COVID-19 Recovery Period.”

Get Updates on Our Education Research

Related Posts

Boston’s Building Bargain: Coaxing Commercial Conversions to Condos

Joe Selvaggi discusses the strategic goals of Boston's Downtown Office to Residential Conversion Pilot Program with Arthur Jemison, the head of BPDA planning. The aim is to transform underutilized offices in Downtown into vibrant places to live.

SCOTUS Wealth Tax: Are Appreciated Assets Income?

Joe Selvaggi talks with CATO Institute constitutional scholar Thomas Berry about the recently argued Moore v. U.S.A. case, which challenges the idea that income must be realized before it can be taxed.

Busting Big Business: Antitrust Comes for Google and Big Sandwich

Joe Selvaggi talks with Dr. Brian Albrecht, an economists with the International Center for Law and Economics. They separate fact from fiction when it comes to the public’s and politicians’ concerns over allegedly anti-consumer practices of big business and discuss when antitrust action by the federal government is justified.

Supreme Oral Arguments: Do Gun Rights Rest on Responsible Behavior

Joe Selvaggi engages in a conversation with constitutional scholar Attorney Clark Neily to explore the oral arguments presented in the US Supreme Court case USA v Rahimi. The discussion delves into the intricate examination of behavioral history and the legal processes involved in restricting an individual from owning a firearm.

Powering Earth’s Unplugged: Overcoming Barriers to Electricity Benefits Billions

Joe Selvaggi talks with energy journalist Robert Bryce about his views on the benefits and barriers to bringing cheap, abundant electricity to the nearly 4 billion people without access.

Peace Through Compassion

In a conversation between Joe Selvaggi and George Mason law professor Ilya Somin, Somin presents his viewpoint on the moral and strategic case for allowing free emigration of Palestinian refugees from the conflict zone to bolster Israel’s fight against Hamas terrorism.

Inflationary Debt Spiral: Fiscal Cliff Getting Closer, Faster

Joe Selvaggi discusses the consequences of record structural deficits and debt with budget expert Brian Riedl, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. They delve into how these factors could impact the financial stability of Medicare and Social Security and examine the limited time available to avert a potential crisis.

Identity Politics Ideology: Woke’s Orthodoxy and Opposition to Liberal Values

Joe Selvaggi hosts a conversation with Johns Hopkins University Professor Yasha Mounk regarding "The Identity Trap," Mounk's latest book that delves into the origins of woke identity politics, its potential impact on classical liberal values, and strategies for its informed opponents to effectively counter its influence.

Federal Firearm Forfeiture: SCOTUS Considers Gun Rights and Due Process

Joe Selvaggi hosts a conversation with constitutional legal expert Clark Neily, who delves into the facts and legal complexities surrounding USA v. Rahimi, currently before the Supreme Court. This case questions the forfeiture of Second Amendment rights for individuals accused of domestic abuse.

Diversity’s Dubious Definition: Harvard Case Spells End to Racial Classifications

Joe Selvaggi discusses the implications of the Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard case for race and ethnicity-based programs with David Bernstein, a Distinguished Law Professor at George Mason University and an Adjunct Fellow at the CATO Institute.

Untangling Unsheltered Encampments: Home Is Where the Help Lies

Joe Selvaggi discusses the challenges posed by homeless encampments, like Boston's Mass and Cass, with Dr. Judge Glock, the director of research at the Manhattan Institute. They also explore policy alternatives aimed at addressing the needs of both the community and the unsheltered individuals.

Ruining Research Rewards: Price Controls Come for University Patents and Products

Joe Selvaggi talks with Pioneer Institute Senior Fellow Dr. Bill Smith about the benefit of the Bayh-Dole Act’s protection of intellectual property rights for university research patents and the risk posed to the nation and the local economy from recent efforts to consider price controls on products developed from patented discoveries.

Farmers Welfare Bill: Rethinking Costly and Environmentally Distortive Subsidies

Joe Selvaggi discusses the cost and consequences of the $1.5 trillion decade-long subsidies in the farm bill with Chris Edwards, Chair of Fiscal Studies at the Cato Institute. These subsidies have the potential to negatively impact incentives for consumers, producers, and those concerned about the environment.

Predatory Tax Ruling: Supreme Court Closes Door on Home Equity Theft

Joe Selvaggi talks with Pacific Legal Foundation’s state legal policy deputy, attorney Jim Manley, about home equity theft, a practice that has taken 350 properties in Massachusetts, dispossessing homeowners of more than $50 million in equity.

Sweden’s Pandemic Paradigm: Does Trust in Citizenry Save Lives

Joe Selvaggi talks with Johan Norberg, author and senior fellow at CATO Institute, about his analysis of Sweden’s resistance to government-mandated COVID-19 control measures, as well as Sweden’s public health outcomes relative to the U.S and peer nations.

Breast Cancer Risk: Testing to Tailored Screening, Treatment, and Prevention

Joe Selvaggi talks with precision medicine expert, Alva 10 CEO Hannah Mamuszka about how individualized testing can both detect and substantially reduce the incidence of breast cancer, a disease that accounts for more than 40k deaths each year.

Landlord’s Foreseeable Duty: Who Is Liable When Crime Lands on the Doorstep?

Joe Selvaggi talks with retired Federal Judge Frank Bailey, president of Pioneer Public Interest Law Center, about the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's decision in Hill-Junious v. UTP Realty, LLC, regarding the limits of liability for a landlord when a murder occurs near her tenant’s location, and the challenges facing small entrepreneurs in high-crime communities.

Trump’s Trial’s Tribulations: Legal Merits of Four Federal Felony Fraud Indictments

Joe Selvaggi talks with legal scholar and George Mason University professor Ilya Somin about the legal merits of the federal indictments against former President Donald Trump and what is likely to come next in the legal proceedings against him and other defendants in the cases involving the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election.