The Economy on the Presidents' Weekend - Past and Future

I, for one, am grateful for the “economy-focused” message that is being prioritized in the Presidential Campaign and its coverage right now. No matter where you stand politically, economics impacts all…from an individual’s or household’s budget to global shifts in the trade of goods and labor. (See here, here, and here). However, economic downturns rest disproportionately on the most vulnerable among us.

Last week, I went to a Forum hosted by MassINC. A common thread ran throughout, offered by government officials, business, labor, and non-profit/philanthropic representatives: For long term success, we need each other.

The contradictions in the Massachusetts landscape are striking. The Mass economy ranks among the highest in the nation in labor productivity, the most educated workforce, and innovation capacity (for more, on this read MassINC's Mass Jobs: Meeting the Challenges of a Shifting Economy.

• Yet, as my colleague, Clare pointed out, an Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Kids Count report, ranked Massachusetts dead last in a state-by-state ranking of how low-income children fare.
• Massachusetts is also among the last to recover jobs lost; we are still down 100,000 jobs.

"The Massachusetts economy might be described as a boutique economy, with highly specialized jobs of high quality that offer great rewards to those who can participate in it but increasingly limited options for everyone else.”

For underlying principles and recommendations that could form an economic vision and agenda, go to MassINC report.