RIDERSHIP ON THE MBTA’s commuter rail system continues to rebound strongly, providing an interesting data point in the debate over whether Boston in the post-COVID era will face an office space glut that will make the city feel like a ghost town of empty buildings. When COVID-19 hit in March 2020, ridership on commuter rail […]
Economy
Posted inEnvironment
‘Re-wilding’ Massachusetts cranberry bogs
As Massachusetts’ famous cranberry industry consolidates and some of the cranberry bogs fade out of use, famers, governments, and conservationists are increasingly eager to start “re-wilding” them to natural rivers and wetlands.
Posted inOpinion
It’s time to protect gig workers and consumers
Gig economy companies like Uber and Instacart are exploiting workers by misclassifying them as independent contracts and not employees, which limits the employment protections they deserve to have.
Posted inPolitics
New AFL-CIO president Chrissy Lynch on the changing face of labor
Chrissy Lynch is the Massachusetts AFL-CIO’s first female head, succeeding Steven Tolman this fall to be the first new president in more than a decade to lead the 800-organization federation.
Posted inBy The Numbers
Mass. residents bullish on future — with some big asterisks
More than half of Massachusetts residents think the state’s best days are ahead, or already here, and more than two thirds say their family enjoys a good quality of life, according to a new CommonWealth Beacon poll.
Posted inOpinion
Don’t underestimate new AFL-CIO president Chrissy Lynch
NEARLY 50 YEARS AGO, I was hired by a prominent union side labor law firm as the first woman to practice union side labor law in Massachusetts. I learned that I had the position from the memo line on the check the firm sent reimbursing my interview costs: “Girl to be hired.” (I still have […]
Posted inPolitics
Short takes: It’s Baker vs. Healey (in state Senate race)
IT WAS THE MARQUEE showdown for governor that never happened. For months, Republican Charlie Baker kept political watchers guessing whether he’d seek a third term as governor. On the Democratic side, all eyes were on the state’s two-term attorney general, Maura Healey, as the presumptive favorite for her party’s gubernatorial nomination, but she was in […]
Posted inEconomy, Housing, State Government
Healey wades in on real estate transfer fee
GOV. MAURA HEALEY’S support for allowing municipalities to enact a real estate transfer tax could offer some cover to the cities and towns that have been agitating for the controversial policy change as yet another tool to shore up their affordable housing stock. Her $4 billion five-year housing bond bill, announced in Chelsea on Wednesday […]
Posted inEconomy
Massachusetts is a 21st century frontier state
AT THE SAME time that chaos was brewing in the House of Representatives in Washington and our Patriots flamed out to the Cowboys in Dallas and then collapsed to the Saints at Gillette, we also witnessed stunning achievements that help to position Massachusetts for the future. Consider just a few of the historic developments of […]
Posted inEconomy
Foreign-educated immigrants can strengthen the Mass. economy
IN THE 2023 CNBC Top States for Business rankings, Massachusetts was rated among the best states for technology and innovation, education, access to capital, and life, health, and inclusion. Similarly, in the summer of 2023, Massachusetts was rated by WalletHub as the best state to live in the country, driven by its top ranking for […]