MORE ARTICLES
Outmigration and the Labor ForceApril 25, 2024 - 11:44 am
Study Finds Obstacles to Search for Opioid SubstituteApril 25, 2024 - 9:11 am
Annual Massachusetts Outmigration Hits 39,000, Up 1,100% Over The Last Decade: BU StudyApril 24, 2024 - 1:00 pm
Hoover at Stanford’s Stephen Kotkin on Stalin’s Tyranny, WWII, & the Cold WarApril 24, 2024 - 12:33 pm
Superior Court Judge Invalidates “Equity Theft” Law as UnconstitutionalApril 23, 2024 - 1:04 pm
Tax Man Confounded: Why High Rates Haven’t Yielded Higher RevenueApril 23, 2024 - 12:58 pm
Massachusetts’ Workforce Growing Older and More Diverse, Remains Highly EducatedApril 18, 2024 - 9:26 am
Johns Hopkins’ Ashley Berner on Educational Pluralism & DemocracyApril 17, 2024 - 2:53 pm
Why the secrecy? Pioneer Calls for Open Meetings Dealing with Steward’s Impact on Patient Care.April 16, 2024 - 1:59 pm
Industrial Policy Reimaged: Can Government Improve Free MarketsApril 16, 2024 - 12:34 pm
A LOT of GBH tote bags
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, Economic Opportunity, Housing, News /byI like “Sesame Street,” as I don’t think pre-school children should be exposed to the latest in advertiser-driven brain-stem stimulation. I also enjoy “Greater Boston.” That said, I do object to the Olympian enshrinement of Ken Burns, Buster Bunny, and Emily Rooney in WGBH’s new technicolor monstrosity of a road hazard. How can a place that really, really needs $20 gifts from Inspector Lynley-loving librarians toss so much coin around? Is anyone else nervous about Boston’s annexation by Nonprofitstan? Private citizens and businesses default and run, bridges rot and slot machines jingle as colleges and “non-commercial” media outlets splurge on name-brand architects. [Black Kettle Alert: Yes, Pioneer is a nonprofit too. If anyone would like to engage Renzo Piano or […]
Great Pension Resource
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, Blog: Better Government /byWe did a paper last year detailing the cost of pension gaming to the Commonwealth. The Herald has just put up a database of all the pension recipients and their yearly payouts. Many old friends show up….
A Big Wet Kiss for Racinos
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, Blog: Better Government, Economic Opportunity, News /byThe Globe’s Stan Grossfeld plants exactly that in today’s Globe with a puff piece on Pennsylvania’s experience with racinos. Unsurprisingly, a declining industry that receives a massive subsidy experiences a bit of resurgence, but the unasked question is why should we be subsidizing horse owners above any number of other worthy recipients. Also conveniently absent is any reference to the massive profits that the former track owners made when they sold their facilities after purchasing below-market fixed price licenses. One of the details in the Patrick Administration’s casino plan that we were glad to see is the presence of a competitive bid process (as opposed to granting fixed-price licenses to racetracks, which was floated last year). Check out our op-ed […]
Darwin Award Candidate
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Better Government, News /byYesterday’s Globe reports on charges filed against a Vermont man, who may need to ponder the consistency of his actions: “A Vermont man charged with helping convicted tax evaders Ed and Elaine Brown evade authorities left a trail of evidence showing his allegiance, authorities said yesterday. Robert Wolffe showed his devotion to the Browns and his wish for an armed showdown with authorities via blogs and e-mail, even e-mailing a manual on how to kill government officials to his wife at work, an employee in the Vermont division of the Federal Highway Administration, a prosecutor alleged.” [Emphasis added]
McKay is increasingly OK
/0 Comments/in Blog, News, Related Education Blogs /byFlorida’s McKay scholarship program is increasingly a model to other states (but, no, not Massachusetts). The McKay program provides nearly 20,000 scholarships to Florida special-needs students to attend private scools, if that is the preference of their parents. In May Gov. Sonny Perdue of Georgia signed a similar bill into law. The state senate in Nevada, which is not especially known for educational experimentation, passed a bill calling for a McKay-style program earlier this year. On October 5, Pioneer is holding an event marking the release of a report on the use of tax credits and tax deductions to promote scholarships for students in failing schools or other select groups such as students who have special needs. Boston University School […]