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Massachusetts Affordability and Competitiveness Ranking is in FreefallJuly 26, 2024 - 10:19 am
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Suffolk County Residential and Commercial Taxation Changes Since 2018July 25, 2024 - 9:54 am
Stanford’s Arnold Rampersad on Jackie RobinsonJuly 24, 2024 - 11:29 am
Registering Republican Realignment: GOP Convention Showcases Conservatism’s New DirectionJuly 23, 2024 - 11:02 am
An Evaluation of 340B in MassachusettsJuly 23, 2024 - 10:41 am
Migration to Massachusetts in 2022: Where Are People Going?July 18, 2024 - 3:00 pm
The Economic Development Bill Starting to Take Shape; It Makes Big Bets on Life Sciences, Clean Technology and Applied AIJuly 18, 2024 - 2:11 pm
Disparities in LIHTC Data Illuminate Difficulties in Housing ProductionJuly 18, 2024 - 12:13 pm
Examining the New Massachusetts Estate TaxJuly 18, 2024 - 9:43 am
Cold Fusion with Common Household Items
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, Blog: Better Government, News, Related Education Blogs /byOur Governor has recently made some very public pronouncements on coming reform to education funding. At a meeting of the Mass Association of School Committees and a public rally on the Boston Common, he committed to reforming the process. The folks over at Blue Mass Group have been paying attention: Gov. Patrick’s gonna have to get new shirts, ’cause he’s got something big up his sleeve when it comes to education funding. It’s funny — when I was talking with Sen. Jehlen last week I mentioned that Patrick was making noises about a major shift in funding, presumably requiring more revenue. She shrugged — she had no more idea what he was actually proposing than anyone of us. So it’s […]
How do you say “yippee” in French?
/1 Comment/in Blog, News /byParis is six hours ahead. The polls will soon open. While things French do not fall within the bandwidth of Pioneer, it would be foolish to ignore the sea change that is coming in France. Paris is still an important intellectual center. The big money focus of Chirac’s tenure brought insider deals for his friends and a politics of convenience. Good riddance. The Left in France, which has never seen the kind of reform that took place in Italy or Britain, is still spinning its wheels in Stalingrad. That soon will change, as the various components of France’s Left coalition (and especially the Socialists) will face an overhaul the likes of which we have not seen in the last half […]
If you can make it there. . .
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /by Liam DayTom Menino has been mayor of Boston for roughly 14 years now. During that time he has provided sturdy leadership and, whatever else can be said of him, he has at least wanted the job to which he was elected (more than can be said for a number of our ex-governors and even Mr. Menino’s two predecessors). Nevertheless, I need to express some dissatisfaction. Sturdy just isn’t enough, not after 14 years. If the mayor chooses to maintain the sturdy course, his legacy will be very tepid indeed. He has twice been reelected by margins greater than 40 percentage points and, though there are a number of viable mayoral candidates waiting in the wings, the choice to remain mayor after […]
Today Pioneer, Tomorrow….
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Better Government, News /byFormer Pioneer summer intern Brady Cassis starred as a quarterfinalist on College Jeopardy this week (top row, to the right). For the truly dedicated, a YouTube feed of the event is available (see below). Warning — its from a group of Stanford students supporting another contestant, not our dear Brady.
Unemployment Insurance — Why You Should Care
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, Blog: Better Government, Economic Opportunity, News /byThe irascible Jon Keller gets it exactly right in a recent post on his blog — unemployment insurance reform is “crucial part of restoring job growth” in the state. In our recent study on the cost of doing business in Massachusetts, we found that Massachusetts’ UI costs were significantly higher than many of our competitor states — New Hampshire is 72% lower, New York (!!) is 49% lower, North Carolina is 27% lower, and Texas is 59% lower. Yesterday’s hearing (sub. reg.) at the State House appeared to have focussed on efforts to make unemployment benefits marginally more difficult to access. Pioneer will have a policy brief later this month, analyzing the issue. We’ll examine the issue of benefits eligibility, […]