Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Economic Currents: The State Of The State Economy, Alan Clayton-Matthews

Public Policy and Public Affairs Faculty Publication Series

Between June 1999 and July 2000, the Federal Reserve raised the federal funds rate six times, for a total increase of 175 basis points. For this and other reasons, the national — and state — ␣economies appear to be growing at a slower rate.

Economic Currents: The State Of The State Economy, Alan Clayton-Matthews

Public Policy and Public Affairs Faculty Publication Series

The Massachusetts economy has not fully caught up with the news that labor shortages are constraining growth. Real gross state product (GSP), as proxied by the Massachusetts Current Economic Index, grew at an annualized rate of 4.3 percent in the first quarter of 2000, only moderately below the 5.4 percent pace of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP). Employment-related measures over the twelve-month period ending in April bear this out. The number of employed Massachusetts residents increased by 1.3 percent, and the number of jobs in the state grew by 2.1 percent, matching the expansion-average annual rate of job growth. Employment …

Economic Currents: The State Of The State Economy, Alan Clayton-Matthews

Public Policy and Public Affairs Faculty Publication Series

The Massachusetts economy continued to create new jobs in 1999, despite tight labor markets. While there were only 1.6 percent more jobs in December 1999 than there were a year earlier, this is an impressive performance, considering that the working-age population has been growing by only one-half of one percent per annum for several years, and the unemployment rate averaged just 3.2 percent for the last two years.

Older Workers: An Essential Resource For Massachusetts, Peter B. Doeringer, Andrew Sum, David Terkla, Commonwealth Of Massachusetts, Blue Ribbon Commission On Older Workers

Gerontology Institute Publications

The Massachusetts Jobs Council, the Governor’s principal advisory board on workforce development, established the Blue Ribbon Commission on Older Workers in 1997 to analyze the labor market for older workers in the Commonwealth and to recommend policies to improve the economic status of the older labor force. The Commission held numerous hearings, town meetings, and focus groups to solicit the views of older workers, employers, labor organizations, and training professionals, and it reviewed the findings of extensive research on older workers in Massachusetts.

The Massachusetts Environmental Industry: Facing The Challenges Of Maturity, Betty J. Diener, David Terkla, Erick Cooke

Management and Marketing Faculty Publication Series

For most of the past 20 years, the environmental industry has been a very significant one, both in Massachusetts and across the country. Some have placed it alongside the electronics, computer hardware, software, biotechnology, fiber optics, and composite materials industries as part of the high-technology sector that has diversified and strengthened the state’s economy. Nationally, environmental industry employment exceeded that of several major manufacturing industries, including chemicals, paper, and aerospace.

In the late 1990s, however, the momentum of the environmental movement began to wane. A decline in both employment and sales suggests that many of the most pressing environmental concerns …

Globalization And Race Hierarchy In The United States, James Jennings

New England Journal of Public Policy

National economies have become irreversibly globalized while racial and ethnic divisions continue to be a reality in many societies. The author has set forth three different scenarios in an attempt to explain the link between globalization and racial and ethnic relations: (1) globalization limits national growth, thus contributing to increased racial and ethnic tensions; (2) globalization does not affect racial and ethnic relations either positively or negatively; and (3) globalization expands domestic economies, consequently helping to reduce racial and ethnic tensions within national borders. This article explores these scenarios and shows that globalization through immigration and movement of capital can …

Economic Currents: The State Of The State Economy, Alan Clayton-Matthews

Public Policy and Public Affairs Faculty Publication Series

The economy is slowing, as it continues to be constrained by labor shortages. Inflationary pressures are present in labor and housing markets, and consumer spending is strong. Fed policy may keep inflation from getting out of hand in the short run. In the long run, however, Massachusetts needs to speed up the growth of its skilled labor force. Minorities and low-skilled workers, who until recently had been largely unaffected by the expansion, are now benefiting from tight labor markets.

Introduction, James Jennings

Trotter Review

We are proud to share with our readers the second annual issue of the Trotter Review. Since the first issue in 1984, the Trotter Review has grown to become a popular journal with a national and international readership. The journal has been particularly praised for its presentation and balance of scholarship informed by activism. We are currently planning future issues along the following themes: the experiences of Black children and the Black community with public schools; the historical and contemporary relationships between the Black and Native-American communities in the United States; and the role of Black educators in community …

The Meaning Of Black Entrepreneurship In Constructing Community, Stacey Sutton

Trotter Review

The small business sector in the United States has traditionally been viewed as a strong source of economic growth and prosperity, as entrepreneurship epitomizes the quintessential American fantasy of rugged individualism. Given the myths about larger-than-life entrepreneurial heroes, business development has historically been touted as a viable trajectory toward economic and social mobility for immigrant groups and marginalized people. Stories about "great" American businessmen such as John D. Rockefeller, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs among others, often highlight rags-to-riches myths about innumerable possibilities within American capitalism given diligence, fierce competition, and an uncompromising work ethic. The work values of small business …

Kenyan Women And The Harambee: Community Development Or Unpaid Work?, Anne Gathuo

Trotter Review

Since gaining independence from Britain in 1963, the Kenyan government has encouraged self-help activity, known as "harambee" which is aimed at supplementing government efforts in the provision of social services. The term harambee conjures positive images of community spirit and people pooling together for a common cause. Indeed, the term is synonymous to community development. The United Nations Report on Community Development and Economic Development defines community development as the process by which the efforts of the people themselves are combined with those of government authorities to improve the economic, social and cultural conditions of communities, to integrate these communities …

An Interview With Brooke Stephens, Nina Lanegra

Trotter Review

Desperate women losing a daily battle against the stranglehold and cycle of poverty: this is what comes to mind when I think of Women and Economic Development. It's an international picture, Third World countries struggling with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. I was challenged to think of any linkage between Women and Economic Development on both an international and domestic level. My search led me to this interview with Brooke Stephens, author and Wall Street veteran of 15 years who has been a senior investment consultant. Stockbroker, and a Registered Investment Advisor. Ms. Stephens comments on financial …

Dependent Convergence: The Importation Of Technological Hazards By Semiperipheral Countries, Carlos Eduardo Siqueira

C. Eduardo Siqueira

This article complements the substantial body of literature produced over the last three decades on the export of hazards from developed countries to developing countries. After reviewing the central arguments proposed by this literature, the authors add to the debate by focusing on the role of national actors in the importation of these hazards, based on the experience of late 1970s’ developments in the petrochemical industry in Brazil. The Brazilian case indicates that social struggles and/or interactions among actors in devel- oping and developed nations determine to what extent hazardous technol- ogies are imported without environmental controls and to what …

Responding To Poverty Through Community Development: The Role Of Women In South Africa, Junette Davids

Trotter Review

The World Bank reported that during the past three decades the developing world has made enormous economic progress. This is illustrated in the rising trend for incomes and consumption: between 1965 and 1985 consumption per capita in the developing world went up by almost 70%. Midgley, also reported that developing countries have recorded high rates of economic growth, achieved high degrees of industrialization and made significant social progress. Given this scenario one would assume that poverty has also decreased markedly. However, even though some developing countries have recorded high rates of economic growth, achieved high degrees of industrialization, and made …