News/Events
Mass. Economy Shrinks In Third Quarter
By Curt Nickisch, WBUR
Published October 30, 2009
BOSTON - The commonwealth's economy contracted 1.1 percent during the third quarter of 2009, even as the United States' economy grew 3.5 percent over the same period.
The latest MassBenchmarks economic index compiled by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and the UMass Donahue Institute revealed a stark contrast between the state's negative numbers and the country's positive ones.
UMass Dartmouth economic analyst Michael Goodman said it is not as bad as it looks. He co-edited the MassBenchmarks report and said much of the growth nationally was boosted by Cash for Clunkers and the first time homebuyer tax credit.
"The states that are much more dependent on auto manufacturing and have had much more difficult housing markets benefited disproportionately," Goodman said.
On the other hand, Goodman had expected positive third-quarter numbers for the state. So had Alan Clayton-Matthews, a Northeastern University economist and contributor to the MassBenchmarks analysis.
"The state entered the recession later than the U.S., and so appeared to be performing better than the U.S. through the spring of this year," said Clayton-Matthews. "However, recently released income and tax revenue data suggest that the state's economy continued to decline through the third quarter."
The good news is that the forecast is brighter than the current economic climate. Another MassBenchmarks index, a leading one, predicted slow but real growth during the fourth quarter of this year and the first quarter of 2010. Positive indicators include a modest recovery in residential real estate and stronger demand for information technology products and services that Massachusetts companies offer.
However, the index's compilers said the near-term outlook is harder to assess.
Sector cobbles jobless comeback
By Robert Gavin, Boston Globe
Published October 29, 2009
To cut costs when the economy tumbled, Peerless Precision Inc. invested in computerized equipment, partly to eliminate the use of costly subcontractors. Now that new orders are coming in, the equipment is allowing the Westfield machine shop to expand production without adding to its workforce of about 20.
"The bottom line is that by working with our employees, we've improved efficiency," said Larry Maier, the company president. "That's why we're still here. That's why we're having a good year."
Manufacturing in Massachusetts is rebounding from the deep recession, but as Peerless shows, the sector will be slow in recovering the 25,000 jobs it lost over the past two years. Even though production is projected to expand by nearly 5 percent over the next year, manufacturers are still expected to slice another 14,000 jobs before employment levels in the second quarter of 2010, according to forecasts by Moody's Economy.com, a research firm in West Chester, Pa.
Improved productivity, or producing more with the same or fewer employees, is a key reason why manufacturing no longer generates the jobs it did during the heyday of textiles, shoes, and other traditional industries. But manufacturing nonetheless remains a key component in the state's economy, and one that will play an important role in its recovery, analysts said.
Despite decades of job losses, manufacturing still employs five times as many workers as biotechnology and ranks second only to health care in total payroll because its jobs are generally high paying, according to analyses by Moody�s and Northeastern University's Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy. Manufacturers account for $1 of every $8 in goods and services produced in Massachusetts and export more than $20 billion a year in merchandise to foreign markets, according to the US Commerce Department.
Massachusetts manufacturers were hit hard in the recession, shedding 8 percent of their jobs and cutting employee hours. But the worst appears over. Many firms are reporting rebounds in orders and extending work weeks to meet the demand. Some are even calling back laid-off workers.
"We saw the lights go out last year, and now they're back," said Jack Healy, director of the Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership, a joint federal-state program that helps manufacturers stay in business. "Dim, but definitely on."
Some firms, however, say conditions are quickly brightening. Michael Tamasi, president of Boston Centerless Inc. of Woburn, said that in the past two months, his company has enjoyed record orders for the precision parts it makes for industries, from aerospace to medical devices. Workers are now on the job 42 hours a week, after being cut to 34 hours. The company, which employs 90 in Woburn and another 60 at its AccuRounds subsidiary in Avon, recently hired two workers and has openings for four more.
"It was tenuous, but we got through it," Tamasi said. "Manufacturing is still very viable and one of the best industries for the future."
Analysts said the state's manufacturing sector is well positioned for the recovery. Although the recession took its toll, the state's manufacturers fared far better than their counterparts nationwide. Manufacturing nationally shed 15 percent of jobs, nearly double the loss here.
Many economists expect the recovery to be led by business investment, particularly in the advanced technology and equipment in which Massachusetts firms specialize. Manufacturers should also get a boost from a weaker dollar, which makes their products cheaper in foreign markets. "This industry was once in free fall," said Barry Bluestone, dean of Northeastern University's School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, "but it has retooled and reinvented itself as a sophisticated, high tech sector."
Clinton plastics maker Nypro Inc., for example, prospered for many years by making casings and other components for consumer electronics. But as the electronics industry slowed along with consumer spending, Nypro has shifted its focus to health care products, said company spokesman Al Cotton.
Those products are experiencing solid growth, as is Nypro's health care products group, centered in Massachusetts. One of its divisions, NP Medical, recently completed a $5 million expansion in Clinton, and it is considering another one, Cotton said. Nypro employs about 1,000 in the state. "We continue to grow in health care," he said, "and we're starting to see things improve overall."
Hugh Mason, president of Mason Box Co., in North Attleborough, said he is also starting to see signs of better times after a tough year. The 118-year-old box maker was forced to lay off about 30 percent of its workforce, which is now about 50.
"The worst is past," he said. "For those of us who've survived, as the economy comes back, we're going to be able to take advantage of it."
Broadside: Unaffordable housing (NECN) - One would think that the recession would have one upside. If houses aren't selling, like they once did, doesn't that mean more people should be able to afford them? Guess again.
Jim Braude is joined by Barry Bluestone, Dean of Public Policy and Urban affairs at Northeastern University to discuss. Barry is also the co-author of the Boston Foundation's 2009 housing report card.
Barry says that housing prices did fall in Massachusetts, but because they fell so quickly in other markets around the country, they still remain relatively higher. Barry explains how the drop in housing prices, has caused an increase in rental prices.
To read this year's Greater Boston Housing Report Card, click here.
Renters get little relief as demand increases
By Jennifer McKim, Boston Globe
Published October 27, 2009
Renting an apartment in the Boston area remains expensive, despite the precipitous drop in property values that has benefited some home buyers, according to a report from the area's largest community foundation and a group that promotes affordable housing.
Survey Your rent changed in the last year? The Greater Boston Housing Report Card 2009 shows renters in the region pay an average of $1,629 a month, 11 percent more than four years ago, even though housing values dropped about 18 percent during the same period.
Barry Bluestone, the report's coauthor, attributed the increase to a growing demand for rentals, as people who lost their houses to foreclosure have moved into apartments, and to a high number of qualified buyers who remain content to rent until the economy stabilizes.
Regional housing specialists are scheduled to meet tomorrow to discuss the report, released by the Boston Foundation and the Citizens' Housing and Planning Association.
Although rents have fallen about 2 percent since they peaked in the third quarter of 2008, they still strain the finances of many Boston-area residents, the report found.
"Renters still make up 40 percent of the people who live here. They tend to be people who are lower or moderate income or young people," said Bluestone, dean of the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University. "We clobbered them during this recession."
Adding to their woes, the median household income of renters has fallen 7 percent since 2000, the report said, while homeowners' incomes increased 4.7 percent.
The high rental costs, combined with an economic slowdown, has forced more people to become homeless and resulted in growing waiting lists for affordable rental housing, said Aaron Gornstein, executive director of the Citizens' Housing and Planning Association. At the same time, state and federal programs to assist renters have been cut back, Gornstein said.
"Home prices have come down but rents haven't," he said. "It's a very difficult situation for renters."
Russell Smith, 38, knows firsthand about the high price of renting. After being laid off as a hotel manager in July, Smith decided to move out of his $1,850 a month South Boston loft to find something more affordable. He and his roommate are considering a two-bedroom South End apartment for $1,600 a month.
"It's been very hard to find something that is reasonably priced and what we want," said Smith. "There's a lot of people who have deals out there, but not great deals."
The annual report card, which was first published in 2002 when home prices were on the rise, was created to examine how the region deals with housing affordability, said Paul Grogan, chief executive of the Boston Foundation.
Grogan said this year's report is "sobering" because it shows the Boston area is still unaffordable for many people, despite a drop in housing prices since 2005. Compared with Boston, property values in areas such as Miami, Phoenix, and Las Vegas have plummeted an average of about 50 percent during that time.
And as Boston rents have gone up, the gap between prices in the region and those in the nation's most expensive markets - including Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, and San Francisco - has narrowed, according to the report.
"We are having trouble holding onto our people and trouble creating jobs," said Grogan. "Our relative affordability hasn't improved."
Although rents have started to moderate and some landlords are offering incentives to reduce vacancies, some housing experts don't expect a prolonged downward trend. Nicolas Retsinas, director of Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies, said rents probably will soon increase again because there has been a slowdown in housing construction, and more people unable to buy a home because they are unemployed or unable to get a mortgage are turning to rentals. That kind of market stagnation does not bode well for the rental market, Retsinas said.
"You want an economy that encourages mobility so people can move where the jobs are," he said.
To read this year's Greater Boston Housing Report Card, click here.
Boston-area rents now 2nd highest in country
By Thomas Grillo, Boston Herald
Published October 27, 2009
Rents in Greater Boston are among the highest in the nation - eclipsing New York City for the first time, according to the Greater Boston Housing Report Card.
"We now have the nation's second-most expensive rents, surpassed only by San Francisco," said Barry Bluestone, a co-author of the annual report. "As a result, Greater Boston is in danger of experiencing more out-migration of young working families."
While the annual survey from the Boston Foundation and Citizens' Housing and Planning Association said the recession is ending and falling home prices have made homes more affordable, the region's "housing crisis" is far from over as rents are rising.
Boston is tied with San Diego as the second-most expensive city in which to rent, followed by Washington, D.C., New York City and Los Angeles, the report found.
"Rental prices are rising due to the foreclosure crisis as people go from homeownership to rental housing," said Aaron Gornstein, executive director of CHAPA, an umbrella organization for affordable housing that funded the study.
Monthly rents in Greater Boston peaked in the third quarter of 2008 at $1,658, up 15 percent since the first quarter of 2004. By the second quarter of 2009, the average rent fell to $1,629, a decline of only 1.7 percent from their all-time high.
The report cites the lack of multifamily housing starts as one reason for the spike in rents. Housing construction in Greater Boston has come to a near standstill.
Last year, 122 Bay State municipalities did not issue permits for any large multifamily projects, the greatest number of communities without such housing production since 2000. No more than 3,500 housing permits are expected to be issued this year, down from 15,000 in 2005, the peak year, the report said.
To read this year's Greater Boston Housing Report Card, click here.
Report: Housing In Boston Less Affordable Than Ever
By DEBORAH BECKER and KATHLEEN MCNERNEY, WBUR
Published October 26, 2009 UPDATED 12:32 PM
BOSTON - Even though housing prices in Greater Boston are down almost 20 percent from what they were four years ago, this region is still one of the most unaffordable places to live in the country, according to a new report. 
There are signs of recovery, with home sales and prices beginning to improve. But rents in Boston are now the second highest in the country, after San Francisco - even higher than in New York.
"Costs here in Boston have actually gone up relatively because prices have fallen so much further elsewhere," said Barry Bluestone, dean of Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University and co-author of the Boston Foundation's 2009 housing report card (PDF).
The report, released Monday, reveals a spike in foreclosures over the last couple of years has driven up demand for rental housing and pushed up prices. Rents were up 11 percent this spring compared to the second quarter of 2005, Bluestone said.
"If this housing cycle looks like the last housing cycle, and it already does look that way, then it will be another four to five years until prices get back to where they were in 2005," Bluestone said.
Overall, however, housing prices are beginning to stabilize across the nation as well as across Greater Boston, which Bluestone said could be a precursor to a recovery if demand for new houses begins to pick up.
For a short-run fix to rising rent, Bluestone recommends expanding voucher programs to help people pay the rent.
Bluestone said his long-term concern is of the slow growth in new housing stock, which Bluestone terms a "Third Civil War" playing out across the nation - the first being the Civil War in the 19th century, which the North won, and the second being the battle over where manufacturing would take place in the 20th Century, which the South won.
"The Third Civil War's going to be what regions of the country, what metro areas, what states can retain and attract young people," Bluestone said. "Housing costs (and) rents are going to be a critical decision in where people decide to move, where people decide to remain. If we can't solve our housing price and rent problems in the future, we're going to lose that civil war."
Another problem, Bluestone said, is persuading young people and first-timers to buy into the market. He advocates federal legislation that would allow new homebuyers to purchase home insurance from the federal government. If a homebuyer is forced to sell the house after three years and ends up taking a loss, the government would insure 90 percent of the loss.
"This should get people into the market. It would be much cheaper than the $8,000 home tax credit we have now and I think it would stimulate more sales now to get the economy moving," Bluestone said. Analysts expect prices to have recovered and continue rising over the next few years, so few people would suffer a catastrophic loss.
Bluestone said U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Newton, has endorsed his plan.
Chip Case, an economics professor at Wellesley College, said it is hard to predict what will happen if the federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers expires.
"We are not out of the woods, unemployment is rising and rising rapidly here in the commonwealth," Case said. "We've got a fair amount of uncertainty about where the housing market is going."
To read this year's Greater Boston Housing Report Card, click here.
The GOOD 100: Building Trains in Detroit
By Michael Dukakis
GOOD Magazine, October 22, 2009
After years of delay, during which both Europe and Asia enjoyed the benefits of modern trains that run at speeds of 200 miles per hour and beyond, President Obama, Vice President Biden, and Congress have made an $8-billion down payment on what can and should be a national rail passenger system that will rival the ones our friends in Europe and Japan have been enjoying for years.
Unfortunately, our failure to invest in high-speed intercity rail has also led to the demise of what was once the world's biggest and best rail-car-manufacturing industry. While GE continues to make quality locomotives that it ships all over the world, the rest of the United States has been incapable of making transit cars and passenger trains for years. For that reason, U.S. metropolitan transit systems and Amtrak have been forced to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on foreign-made trains because our country has lost the capability to build them.
This must change. There is no reason that we can't revive and rebuild our rail-manufacturing industry, especially in places like Michigan that have taken the toughest blows during the current economic downturn. We have plenty of unused and underused industrial capacity, thousands of skilled workers who are currently collecting unemployment compensation, and auto-parts manufacturers who are perfectly capable of making the components of trains.
What's needed is a strong push by the administration, Congress, and states like Michigan to take advantage of what the new national commitment to investing in transit and rail now makes possible.
We have the people. We have the industrial capacity. We can certainly recapture the know-how we once had - another example of how an economic crisis can create new opportunities if we have the sense and determination to take advantage of them.
Source: Good Magazine: http://www.good.is/post/the-good-100-building-trains-in-detroit.
Is Massachusetts Poised to Lead the Recovery?
Jane Clayson, Host, RADIO BOSTON - WBUR
Some economic indicators suggest the nation, region and our state may be on the edge of recovery from the recession of the last year or so. That's good news, but some economists say there's even better news for Massachusetts: Because of our unique mix of industries, they say, we're going to be out of the recession first, and lead the country in an economic rebound. That's all well and good, but we're still faced with a 9.1 percent unemployment rate. We'll take a look at some of the industries that are said to be leading the way, and at their potential for job creation.
This year's report is due out in a couple of weeks and it indicates several green shoots. Unemployment in Massachusetts has leveled out, beating national averages, largely due to growth in higher education and medical sectors. One surprise: tremendous growth potentional in manufacturing.
As The Economy Drags, Green Shoots Hint At Growth In Massachusetts
By ADAM RAGUSEA, WBUR
BOSTON -- Around this time every year, Northeastern University political economist Barry Bluestone offers-up a widely-read assessment of the housing market and the economy as a whole in Greater Boston. In 2008, it was pretty scary.
This year's report is due out in a couple of weeks and it indicates several green shoots. Unemployment in Massachusetts has leveled out, beating national averages, largely due to growth in higher education and medical sectors. One surprise: tremendous growth potentional in manufacturing.
"Here in Massachusetts, we've really in much of our manufacturing made a transformation to true 21st century advanced manufacturing. Sixty percent of the more than 700 firms we talked with actually expected to add jobs between now and 2017," Bluestone said.
Old Style Manufacturing In The 21st Century
Bluestone highlighted companies that seemed like old style manufacturers, but are doing sophisticated things: such as Boston AccuRounds and Centerless, a maker of precision metal components for applications with extremely low tolerances like medical devices and defense.
"The commonwealth has gotten more and more business-friendly as of the last several years," said President and CEO Michael Tamasi, explaining why he has not outsourced the jobs as many other manufacturers have done. "There's workforce training fund grants, there's industrial development bonds that have helped us build our building in Woburn 10 years ago."
The firm has seen a dramatic up-tick in orders since August. The 60 or so workers at their Avon plant are starting to work overtime again. In the long run, Tamasi said he's confident about the firm's growth potential.
Biotech, Green Tech To See Upswings
In other sectors, there is still a lot of excitement around green tech and biotech, according to Bluestone. One example is Acceleron Pharma in Cambridge, where scientists have isolated a protein with incredible potential.
"This molecule, when given to mice, in three days their lean body mass and their skeletal muscle increase by about 10 percent, and over the course of a month it can increase as much as 40 percent muscle mass," said Jasbir Seehra, the chief scientific officer. His research is aimed at developing treatments for neuromuscular diseases, particularly Duchenne's -- a severe form of muscular dystrophy.
Keeping Jobs Close To Home
Acceleron has added about 40 research and development positions this year and are still based in greater Boston. A big question is whether companies like Acceleron will stay in the area once they progress beyond the research and development stage and move into commercial production.
"Well, for these industries it's always good to have a well-trained labor force. Relative to other states, we are pretty good at that," Bluestone said. "On the other hand we have very high cost housing, particularly here in eastern Massachusetts."
Bluestone also pointed out the higher energy costs in Massachusetts and red tape might prompt companies to set-up production operations elsewhere -- like North Carolina or India -- after their big ideas translate into products for the market.
Click "Listen Now" to hear WBUR's Bob Oakes and Adam Ragusea discuss the report.
Tackling Public Policy At Northeastern University
In Just A Few Months, Dukakis Center Sees Itself As 'Major Public Policy' School
A College And Its Community
By Ian B. Murphy | Banker & Tradesman Staff Writer
Northeastern University's Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy, which has become a player in the commonwealth's housing and economic development scenes, has reached critical mass.
After attracting top economists and policy specialists from around the country for a decade, the faculty drawn from several departments will be tenured in the university's School of Urban Affairs and Public policy.
"Very rapidly, in the matter of months, we have become one of the major public policy schools, not just in New England, or in Boston, but nationwide, given our track record of research in so many of these critical urban issues, from housing, to economic development, to transportation, to workforce development," said Barry Bluestone, the school's dean.
This year Alan Clayton Matthews, one of the region's foremost economic forecasters and a member of Gov. Deval Patrick's council of economic advisers, has joined the school. Mathews previously taught at the University of Massachusetts- Boston. The school also now boasts Bill Dickens as a full professor. Dickens is an internationally recognized labor market and macroeconomics specialist who advised former President Bill Clinton.
"You want people to sort of bang together in a space to think about things," said Christopher Basso, association dean of the school. "You would think they would do that already; you want people at a university to interact with each other. The creation of the school is one of those catalytic events, we're hoping."
The seeds for the school's growth were planted in 1999 when Richard Freeland, who is now the commonwealth's commissioner of higher education but was then the president of Northeastern, recruited Bluestone from UMass- Boston to the school to start the Center for Urban and Regional Policy.
"I was eager to get Northeastern University more involved with the city, and eager to get the university more involved with policy questions instead of just academic questions," said Freeland.
A 'Do Tank'
Bluestone agreed to come to Northeastern, but he had a condition: the Center for Urban and Regional Policy couldn't be just another research center.
"[I wanted] to create a center that was not just a think tank, but a do tank -- a think and do tank -- one that was not only interested in doing state-ofthe- art research, but then found ways to apply it, that's what I [wanted] to do," Bluestone said.
Shortly after the center was founded, Bluestone said he was asked to meet with Cardinal Law of the Archdiocese of Boston, and Paul Guzzi, executive director of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. They both had the same concern - housing - but for different reasons. The church felt the city had a moral imperative to create more affordable housing, and the chamber was concerned that the city was pricing young professionals - and all their retail purchasing power - out and driving them away.
The center did some economic modeling and research - they found 38,000 units needed to be created to stabilize housing prices in Boston. The center joined forces with The Boston Foundation, the Citizens Housing and Planning Association, and The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman, to craft "The Housing Report Card,"an annual statistical look at housing in Greater Boston.
And after all that research, the center wanted to do something.
"What became very clear, based on the reports that we'd been doing and some other studies, that we needed somehow to deal with the zoning problem," Bluestone said. "Ultimately we helped craft chapter 40r [the smart growth overlay zoning law] and 40s [school cost insurance] and got it passed. I'm very very proud of that, because that's not what a university usually does. It may do the background research, but to carry that all the way though to get actual legislation written is quite unique."
The center next waded into economic development, specifically in Massachusetts' more industrial cities. Bluestone and the staff surveyed 240 members of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP) to see what made different cities and towns attractive to developers.
"What was interesting was that things like tax abatements, all kinds of subsidies, ranked very low," Bluestone said. "What ranked very high in their answers where things that had to do with the speed with which they could get a permit to build. What we learned in this new global economy is that speed to market is the catchword."
The result was the Economic Development Self Assessment Tool (EDSAT), software that extensively grades municipalities on attractiveness to development, and offers solutions for improvement.
"The whole idea is to help mayors and other town officials to become CEOs for economic development," Bluestone said. "That's the goal: making them much more adept at overcoming the deal breakers and instilling deal makers to bring investment and jobs to their town."
Bluestone said 60 municipalities in the region have used the EDSAT, and each one that signs on enriches the data. In November, Bluestone is taking the tool to a national council of cities conference in Chicago. Last fall, the research center elected to rename itself after former Gov. Michael Dukakis, who is now a professor at Northeastern, and his wife, Kitty.
E-mail: imurphy@thewarrengroup.com
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Q&A: Dukakis on Ted Kennedy
By Lauren McFalls
news@Northeastern | September 1, 2009
In 1962, Edward M. Kennedy won a U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts in his first try at elective office. That same year, a young Harvard Law graduate from Brookline, Mass., named Michael Dukakis ran for and won a seat in the state legislature. During the ensuing 47 years, the two men shared a progressive ideology, a lengthy history of political triumphs and travails, and a personal friendship. Now a Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Northeastern, Dukakis talked yesterday about his relationship with the late senator and the impact of his passing on the current national debate over universal health care, the passion of Kennedy's political career.
How would you sum up Ted Kennedy as a politician?
He was the whole package for me, a remarkable combination of personal commitment and passion for the job, and skills, legislative ability. He never would start a policy initiative without getting a Republican cosponsor.
You know, after Bill Clinton went down to defeat on his 1993 health care plan, he and Ted got together to see what could be done, and decided, OK we'll start with the kids, so they came up with this children's health plan. And Kennedy, as you might guess, was the principal cosponsor in the Senate.
[Republican Senate Majority Leader] Trent Lott knew that Kennedy was looking for a Republican cosponsor. Kennedy had this long-standing personal friendship with [Utah Republican] Orrin Hatch, and when Lott found out that Hatch had agreed to cosponsor the bill, he was just furious. But they put it through -- raised the federal cigarette tax from 24 cents to 67 cents and put it through. That was Kennedy.
Do you remember the first time you worked with him politically?
I'm sure we probably did some things together in the Sixties. But people ask me, "What are your favorite Kennedy stories?" and I've got two.
I was first elected governor in '74, I was defeated by Ed King in '78, so there was the great rematch in 1982, in the Democratic primary. King was the incumbent Democratic governor, albeit a conservative one; he later switched parties. Still, there was no reason for Teddy to come out 10 days before that election and endorse my candidacy, but he did.
Did you ever ask him about it?
He just thought it was the right thing to do, very similar to when he endorsed Obama in 2008. He was close to the Clintons, and I know they were very hurt and disappointed, but he did it anyway. And I know his endorsement was just as crucial for Obama then as it was for in 1982.
My other favorite memory came about when I signed the universal health care bill in 1988. I'll never forget when Teddy called me, he was just so proud -- of me, of Secretary of Health and Human Services Phil Johnston, of the state. He was incredibly proud that his state was the first in the nation to enact universal health care.
You served as governor for 12 years while Ted was in the Senate, so the two of you must have worked together a lot. Does anything in particular come to mind?
On public transportation, which I'm slightly obsessive about, he was absolutely terrific. This was in my first term, and at the time, you could not bust the highway trust fund, the gasoline tax, you could not use it for public transportation.
I was one of the leaders to fight the so-called Master Highway Plan, which would have -- created a California-style freeway system, eight lanes of elevated highway going right through Frederick Law Olmsted's Emerald Necklace, down Ruggles Street and three feet from the Museum of Fine Arts.
And meanwhile, the T was just a basket case, it was awful, it would break down three days out of five when I took it to work.
So after a 10-year debate, we had killed the Master Highway Plan, and we had given up hundreds of million of dollars in federal highway money, but we thought, why can't we use that for public transportation? And Ted and [former House Speaker Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill Jr.] were largely responsible for making it possible for Massachusetts to become the first state in the nation to be able to use federal highway money for public transportation.
We ended up with $3 billion to invest in the T. We acquired the entire commuter rail system in eastern Massachusetts for $35 million, stations, parking lots, tracks, -- and we could not have done it without Kennedy and Tip's leadership.
What will Ted Kennedy's legacy be -- what do you think he'll stand out for above all?
In a general way, that he was somebody who knew where he stood, and he lived it, practiced it, did it. He had a very strong philosophy, which at times was not in vogue. And yet he never wavered at all. I think subsequent events demonstrated clearly that his values and his approach to public service made a lot more sense than some of the folks who were critical of him.
The one piece he wasn't able to achieve was his goal of health care for everyone, and I hope we're going to do that.
You see people at [health care] rallies holding signs, saying "Do It 4 Teddy." How do you think his passing will change the health care debate?
No question we'd be on our way to a health care bill if Ted Kennedy had been healthy, engaged, and involved. If, for example, there had to be some compromising on a pure public option, because it was Kennedy, the liberal community would accept it because his credentials there were so strong.
I'm not saying we can't get a health care bill, but there is no one with the unique set of skills and the respect that he had.
My own view is that the Democrats will have 60 votes for cloture, assuming Massachusetts changes the law and gets someone down there to vote. So what the Democrats have to do, not that you don't keep reaching out to Republicans, is to put together a bill that has solid Democratic support, and then you use the 60 votes to close out debate.
But there is going to be some very hard work to do among Senate Democrats. Kennedy certainly would have been the glue to hold them together and get this thing passed. Now, other people will have to step up to try to do it.
Finally, a rail plan for New England
By Michael S. Dukakis and Robert B. O'Brien
Op Ed in The Boston Globe | August 23, 2009
ALL ABOARD! The New England Rail Train is at long last leaving the station.
Earlier this month top transportation officials of the six New England states endorsed an ambitious regional rail plan that will give New England the opportunity to compete for federal stimulus funds as well as the $8 billion the president and Congress already have committed to intercity high speed rail.
The plan includes a series of projects that will connect the region's states to one another and the region to the rest of the country. It will put thousands of people to work, revive some key urban communities, and build a more secure foundation for the region's economic and environmental future.
The projects include:
- New Inland Route high speed service from Boston to New York City via Worcester, Springfield, Hartford, and New Haven, which will link and revitalize some of the region's oldest cities and most affordable and promising economic enterprise zones - as will proposed new rail service to Fall River and New Bedford. The Inland Route will also provide connecting service along a new Knowledge Corridor from Springfield north to Montpelier, Burlington, and Montreal, connecting the five-college area in and around Amherst with universities such as Dartmouth and the University of Vermont. This would encourage the kind of academic and technological excellence that is the key to New England�s future.
- New Capital Corridor service between Concord and Boston - via Manchester, Nashua, and Lowell - which will strengthen another important group of residential and employment centers and ease the burden on a seriously overcrowded I-93 and highway system north of Boston.
- Extension north along the Maine Coast to Freeport and Brunswick of the already successful Amtrak Downeaster service between Boston and Portland, with connections to the Maine State Ferry Service. This will support the all-season tourism industry that has long been a major element of the regional economy and quality of life.
- Completion of environmental review and preliminary engineering for the North Station/South Station Rail Link - for which federal funds have already been requested by Governor Patrick. This project would link North and South Stations by an underground rail tunnel, thereby extending the Amtrak Northeast Rail Corridor north of Boston and finally connecting all the pieces of the commuter rail system in a way that will make it possible for people to leave their cars at home and get to Logan Airport.
The regional rail plan came none too soon. The region is already behind the Midwest and California, both of which have been working on regional rail plans for at least the past decade; other parts of the country are racing to catch up. New England is even behind the rest of the Northeast Corridor, where our partner states to the south have been hard at work, with new rail tunnels between New York and New Jersey already approved, along with roadbed improvements between New York and Washington that will reduce Acela running times to about two hours.
But now that there is a rail plan for New England, it is time to act. The Obama administration has already received over $100 billion in state applications for the $8 billion on the table. The New England governors working our congressional delegations need to push - and push hard - to join California and the Midwest at the front of the federal line. And Massachusetts has a special role to play in this effort: We are the biggest state in New England, and virtually every element of the new regional rail plan is connected to or through us.
Working together, we have a not-to-be-missed opportunity to set the stage for a vibrant and expanding New England economy of the future.
Former governor Michael S. Dukakis is a professor of political science at Northeastern University and former vice chairman of the Amtrak board of directors. Robert B. O'Brien is executive director of the Downtown North Association and chairman of the North-South Rail Link Citizens Advisory Committee.
Comments / DiscussionSource: The Boston Globe.
See related article on the New England Rail Plan.
Measuring for Success
August 18th, 2009, news@Northeastern
Jason Kornwitz
A unique after-school program at Our Space Our Place--a small nonprofit organization housed at the Tobin Community Center, in Roxbury, Massachusetts--is helping visually impaired and blind children gain more self-confidence and build lifelong skills.
And Northeastern students are making sure the youngsters get the most out of their experience there.
Over the spring semester, two students taking "Techniques in Program Evaluation," a graduate-level political science course taught by Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy senior research associate Laurie Dopkins, worked with the resource-strapped nonprofit to develop a way to gather data on student participation, measure the program's effect on students' lives and assess the organization's future goals.
The project was part of the university's Stony Brook Initiative, a large ongoing partnership that links Northeastern with community and nonprofit organizations in neighboring Roxbury, Mission Hill, the Fenway and the South End. The goal of this particular project is to help these nonprofits develop new methods, leverage resources, and become more efficient and effective, despite all the funding cuts prompted by the economic downturn.
"It sounds easy," says Cheryl Cumings, founder and executive director of Our Space Our Place. "But you really need to do research to make sure you have the right tools. We just don't have the time to do the additional work. And, because of our size and limited budget, we cannot afford to pay someone to do the work Northeastern did."
Our Space Our Place, founded in 2005 and currently serving 11 students, aims to introduce visually impaired or blind kids to new worlds of possibility and adventure. From September through June, the 6- to 18-year-olds take lessons in dance and Tai Kwon Do, learn to play chess, write and perform in plays, engage in team sports, host radio shows and participate in college and career exploration.
Meg Bossong, MS'09, who earned her degree in the Law, Policy and Society program, and Diana Wogan, a graduate student studying political science, developed surveys for Our Space Our Place that elicit feedback from students, instructors and parents, and created a spreadsheet-like tool for tracking student participation.
Keeping the reality of budget restrictions and the need for ease of use in mind, Bossong and Wogan also suggested that all students keep a portfolio of their work, so that, at the end of the year, the nonprofit will have a tangible way of measuring student accomplishments.
Having easy-to-access data will come in handy when the nonprofit applies for grants, says Bossong. "It is critical to establish why a program is unique and valuable, and be able to effectively communicate that information to funders, potential volunteers and others interested in the program," she explains.
"Now, when we apply for grants, we will be able to provide numbers, in addition to the great stories we can tell," Cumings adds.
According to Dopkins, the Stony Brook partnership is a much-needed forum for open discussions about the community's needs.
"Together, we're coming up with ways of addressing the issues," she says.
Photo caption: Graduate student Diana Wogan, left, and recent master's degree graduate Meg Bossong developed an evaluation plan for measuring the affect of a program for the visually impaired. Photo by Lauren McFalls.
A Future for Public Employee Unions?
July 18th, 2009, The Boston Globe
Barry Bluestone
While working my way through college in the 1960s on a Ford assembly line in Michigan, I was a proud member of the UAW. My union had 1.5 million members. Its economic clout helped provide excellent wages and benefits, and it was one of the most respected progressive forces in the nation fighting for universal healthcare, civil rights, and workforce training, and fighting against poverty. Its political clout helped boost the national minimum wage, legislation not directly benefiting its own well-paid members.
Today, the UAW has fewer than 465,000 members and its economic and political power is greatly diminished. Much of its decline is due to extraordinary blunders made by the auto companies that employ its members. Nonetheless, over the past two decades, the union often failed to take action to preserve the industry and therefore its own membership.
It failed to press the auto companies to build high-quality, innovative cars that could compete with imports. Often, it insisted on job classifications and work rules that undermined efficiency and compromised the industry's competitiveness.
The UAW was not alone. Today, less than 14 percent of US workers are members of unions, down from 35 percent in 1955. With membership so low, private-sector unions have lost much of their power and the nation is losing a major force for progressive change.
Will public-sector unions follow the same path? Nationwide, these unions represent over 35 percent of federal, state, and local employees, roughly the same as in 1980. Over the years, they have won improved wages and benefits for their members. Yet the leaders of many of these unions, particularly in Massachusetts, seem to be setting the stage for the same kind of deterioration we see in unions like the UAW.
Teachers unions refuse to make changes in work practices that could help improve the chances of children succeeding in school. Police unions fight against lowering the cost of details at construction sites. The MBTA union and others representing transport workers lobby vociferously against reforming the state�s transportation system. Municipal unions refuse to permit their local communities to join the Group Insurance Commission that would save their towns millions without compromising the quality of their members� medical care.
As a result, between 2000 and 2008, the price of state and local public services has increased by 41 percent nationally compared with 27 percent in private services. Even in the face of the worst fiscal crisis in decades, many state and local union leaders refuse to consider a wage freeze that could help preserve more of their members� jobs.
Such action is rapidly losing the support public-sector unions need to survive. Union leaders may think that by working diligently to elect friendly public officials, they can fend off the day of reckoning. But that day is fast approaching. Citizens, and ultimately their elected representatives, will increasingly object to tax increases to pay for what they see as bloated union contracts and poor public service.
Sensing the public's demand for reform, Governor Patrick and the Legislature have already passed pension and transportation measures opposed by union leaders, and Mayor Menino and Governor Patrick favor an expansion in the number of charter schools.
Ultimately, new ways will be found to provide public services to circumvent public unions. Non-union charter schools will proliferate, not to reduce teachers' salaries or benefits but to avoid a plethora of work rules that make school reform difficult. Public services will be privatized with private contractors hired to pick up trash (in addition to recycling), to guard prisoners, and perhaps even to fight fires. Public highways may be sold off. The result: public-sector unions will see their memberships and their influence decline.
This will be a tragedy. To move in a different direction, we need to think about a new "grand bargain" between public-sector unions and government. Union leaders in the state need to consider ways to work collaboratively with public officials so as to offer quality public services at a reasonable cost to the taxpayer while preserving union jobs for their members.
Comments / DiscussionSource: The Boston Globe.
Dukakis Center staff present to Chinese delegation
June 15th, 2009
On June 4th, On June 4th, Dukakis Center Associate Director Stephanie Pollack presented key data on Massachusetts transit and fiscal policy as part of the week-long symposium with government officials from Hangzhou, China.
World Class Cities Partnership hosted the Chinese delegation as the first program of the new initiative. As a new institute of the School of Social Science, Urban Affairs and Public Policy, the World Class Cities Partnership is an international network of government, academic and corporate leaders that aims to bring leaders from around the world together to share resources, information and “best practices” that can be duplicated in other developing cities.
With important city-planning insight from Lisa Signori, Director of Boston's Office of Administration and Finance and Dukakis Center Director Barry Bluestone, the panel discussed the historical strengths and future challenges facing infrastructure planning in Massachusetts. During her portion of the presentation, Associate Director Stephanie Pollack gave a detailed overview of the history of American infrastructure spending and the implications of Massachusetts’s unique budget system on Massachusetts’ transit and public services. Although Massachusetts has made significant steps to expand and “green” metropolitan areas transit systems and public resources, Pollack’s presentation pointed to a need for better collaboration between federal and local governments in the region.
Ms. Signiori’s presentation gave key perspective into the City of Boston’s budget approval and negotiation process; while highlighting the strengths of a strong mayoral government system, Ms. Signiori explained that Massachusetts often faces budgetary and fiscal negotiation challenges not often seen in other states. Closing with frank questions about differences between state and national infrastructure processes by the Hangzhou delegation, the panel re-emphasized the need for a more diversified source of income for cities and continued transparency between city government officials and unions in order to provide more affordable services for all citizens.
To learn more about the World Class Cities Partnerships, contact Executive Director Michael Lake at m.lake@neu.edu.
Pollack Hangzhou Delegation Presentation
City of Boston FY10 Budget Presentation - April 8th, 2009
City of Boston FY10 Mayors Recommended Budget Summary
Q&A with Barry Bluestone on the many projects of his "think and do tank"
June 1st, 2009
In a recent interview with Northeastern University reporter Susan Salk, Dukakis Center Director Barry Bluestone sounds off on research and policy trends at the Dukakis Center.
Transnational collaboration: School welcomes Chinese delegation for "best practices" symposium
June 1st, 2009
The World Class Cities Partnership, an initiative within the School of Social Science, Urban Affairs and Public Policy proudly welcomes a delegation of government officials from Hangzhou, China from May 31st through June 5th. This week-long symposium will focus on the history and current state of urban issues facing Boston.A collection of experts will discuss a new issue each day, including urban planning, education, technology industries, capital investment and budget, and economic development. This first of it's kind World Class Cities Partnership program will share best practices related to our common urban issues and help resolve these issues in cities around the world.
Source: The School of Social Sciences, Urban Affairs and Public Policy
Boston Economist: Home Equity Insurance Fund Could ‘Nudge' Economic Recovery
May 29th, 2009
Ian B. Murphy, Banker and Trademan
Dukakis Center Director Barry Bluestone shares insight on why the American housing market hasn't "yet found bottom" and how a federal homeowner insurance program may give necessary acceleration to the down-economy.
A Ride On The Green Line With Former Gov. Michael Dukakis
May 29th, 2009
David Boeri, WBUR
Other than T officials themselves, there's probably no one single person in Greater Boston that's more concerned about the fate of the T and rail ridership in general than former Gov. Michael Dukakis. When he was in office, he invested heavily in the T.
Michael Dukakis: Obama Needs To Revive Train Manufacturing Industry
May 26th, 2009
Jebediah Reed, The Infrastructurist.com
Excerpt from the article
Last week we ran part one of our recent interview with Michael Dukakis, in which he discussed how building transit will lead to healthier cities and how the burden is now on governors to take the lead on building out our passenger rail network.
In part two, the Duke has some advice for Obama on how to jump start what could become a major domestic industry in decades ahead.
Dukakis Center Staff Interview Series: Senior Research Associate Laurie Dopkins (Part I)
Meet Laurie Dopkins, the newest Senior Research Associate and Director for the School of Social Science, Urban Affairs and Public Policy's Master's in Urban and Regional Policy.
Dukakis Center Interview Series - Laurie Dopkins (Part I)
Dukakis' Transit Vision Gaining Steam
May 10th, 2009
Tom Condon, The Hartford Courant
Boston is one of the most successful cities in the country; cool, hip, exciting. What makes Beantown tick?
Trains. The Hub is a rail center, served by intercity, commuter and street rail. "This is fairly obvious. If you invest in rail you get compact cities; if you invest in highways you get sprawl."
Harnessing the power of waste
May 10th, 2009
Robert Campbell, The Boston Globe
As cities and municipalities are combining economic ingenuity with key efforts to become more sustainable, harnessing previously unattainable energy is now a possibility.
The end of the McMansions
April 27th, 2009
Barry Bluestone and Ted Carman, The Boston Globe
In a recent op-ed piece for the Boston Globe, Dukakis Center Director Barry Bluestone and Ted Carman of Concord Square Planning and Development sound off on why mega-homes of the past are no longer an option for America's new housing and economic future.
Fast-rising NU re-examines its identity
April 6, 2009
Peter Schworm, The Boston Globe
This article highlights the unique values and offering of Northeastern University and the role they've played in the university's rise to top-tier status in recent years.
"We're going through this transformation so rapidly, I'm sometimes winded by it," said Barry Bluestone, dean of the School of Social Science, Urban Affairs, and Public Policy. "But we're not trying to follow anyone else. We're trying to create our own model. We're trying to create a different kind of school."
Stephanie Pollack named to Boston Climate Action Leadership Committee
March 30, 2009
Mayor Thomas Menino appointed Dukakis Center Associate Director Stephanie Pollack, Associate Director of Research at the Dukakis Center to the new Boston Climate Action Leadership Committee. Bringing years of advocacy and policy experience on urban sustainability and transportation, Pollack and the Leadership Committee will advise city government on ways to make Boston a leading "green" city.
Official City of Boston Press Release
Dukakis Center announces new summer internship program
March 30, 2009
The Dukakis Center announces a new series of summer internship programs geared toward current students from across a variety of majors and interests. All interships are unpaid positions. Applications close on May 1st. To learn more about the application process, click here.
What's so Bad About a Cottage
March 22nd, 2009
Lisa Prevost, The Boston Globe
A plan to build a dense community of homes 1,000 square feet or less has the pretty town of Easton in an uproar. But why? Maybe these are exactly the sort of properties this state needs to help fix a market filled with overpriced, oversized housing.
Transportation, planning experts back 19-cent gas tax hike
March 18, 2009
Rosemary D'Amour, MetroWest Daily News
Endorsing Governor Patrick's reforms to transportation finance - including the 19 cents gas tax hike - A Better City and the Dukakis Center hosted a panel bringing key transportation and policy experts.
Higher Gasoline Taxes: Elitist or Equitable?
Presentation to A Better City
March 17, 2009
Barry Bluestone and Stephanie Pollack
Bluestone and Pollack presented analysis that the gas tax is equitable, not elitist. Contrary to conventional wisdom, it's actually not regressive up to $70,000 in income. Moreover, if the increase in gas taxes is not approved, the alternatives -- particularly increased MBTA fares -- will cost the low and middle income families much harder than the gas taxes.
Download the presentation
Are the High Fliers Pricing Themselves out of the Market?
The Impact of Housing Cost on Domestic Migration Rates in U.S. Metropolitan Areas
Presentation at the Urban Affairs Association Conference, Chicago, Illinois
March 7, 2009
Barry Bluestone, Mary Huff Stevenson, Russell Williams The highest cost metro areas (top decile), failing in the recent past to build adequate housing stock to meet rising demand, are now pricing themselves out of the market for people and business investment.
Download the powerpoint
Consumers who could lift market not ready to buy
March 7, 2009
Robert Gavin, The Boston Globe
As housing prices fall and demand for rental properties continue to rise during the economic downturn, Dukakis Center Director Barry Bluestone and Wellesley College economics professor Karl Case give insight on current consumer trends for housing.
Click here to read the full article.
Gas Tax: Paying cents to save big bucks
February 26, 2009, The Boston GlobeBarry Bluestone and Stephanie Pollack, Dukakis Center
Click here to read the Dukakis Center staff op-ed on the Massachusetts gas tax.
How much good will the stimulus do you - or the economy?
February 18, 2009
Dan McDonald, MetroWest Daily News
Barry Bluestone, Director of the Dukakis Center, sounds off on what the new Obama stimulus package will mean for Massachusetts.
return to the top of the pageChamber experts see fair to partly cloudy skies
February 13, 2009
Ashley Smith, Nashua Telegraph
Dukakis Center Director Barry Bluestone helps shed light on current economic conditions during a recent annual meeting in Nashua, NH.
return to the top of the pageHigh-Speed Transit Returns to U.S. Fast Track
January 28, 2009
Dave Demerjian, Wired.com
After languishing at the margins of federal policy for most of the past decade, passenger rail is moving to the fore as President Barack Obama joins a growing number of states in calling for heavy investment in America's rail infrastructure.
To read the full article, click here.
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