Economy
“Rhode Island women earn $10,200 less than men” says the Providence Business News headline. Full-time employed women in Rhode Island are paid an average of $10,191 less than their male counterparts, according to research conducted by the National Partnership for Women & Families. The research is meant to shed light on the persisting gender-based wage…
To those of us not in the public sector, it seems outsized when public employees and politicians make so much of temporary pay freezes or a few minor cuts (or reductions in the expected increases!). Red Jahncke adds some context that will help us understand their perspective by explaining how, nationwide, local and municipal government…
The ProJo tried to figure out where the $1.9 billion in stimulus money that has been spent in Rhode Island has gone (funds can be spent as late as 2015). The ProJo included a chart of the “Top stimulus winners in R.I.”, insofar as what it could determine (apparently, not all entities–such as Medicaid, food…
When we say we’re going to cut what we spend on, say, ice cream at my house, that means we either buy less, wait for sales or just stop buying it. So let’s say, instead of $5 a week, we’ll shoot for $4/week. We just cut the ice cream budget by $1. As Jonah Goldberg…
Reacting to Governor Chafee’s mention of it, Ed Fitzpatrick has read Richard Florida’s book proclaiming the importance of tolerance to the economy and expresses, it seems to me, an appropriate skepticism regarding causation and correlation: “My research finds a strong correlation between, on the one hand, places open to immigrants, artists, gays, bohemians and socioeconomic…
Even in bad economic times, conventions and the like can give the local economy a boost. On Sunday, buyers jammed the hotel rooms-turned-storefronts on several floors. There’s even a 20-percent-off sale on whips. But shopping isn’t the only draw. In the bondage room, attendees practice their knots and tie each other up. “I’m being punished…
I mentioned a few days ago that U.S. manufacturing continues on an upward trend. Jeff Jacoby makes the point that, despite what we hear and feel, U.S. manufacturing still leads the world by a wide margin: Americans make more “stuff’’ than any other nation on earth, and by a wide margin. According to the United…
This really isn’t a surprise, is it? The U.S. is focusing too much attention on helping students pursue four-year college degrees, when two-year and occupational programs may better prepare them for the job market, a Harvard University report said. The “college for all” movement has produced only incremental gains as other nations leapfrog the United…
The Lonely Conservative (being from New York state) has posted an email from an online acquaintance that voices a sentiment with which increasing numbers of us are surely familiar: And I watch countless news stories about people who are criminals (illegal aliens, felons) liars, cheats, or just stupid getting help with their mortgage loans because…
WPRI’s Ted Nesi has broken the story that the SEC is looking into Rhode Island’s muni bonds. Nesi has Gen. Treasurer Raimondo’s statement on the matter and also points to a New York Times article on how the SEC is investigating Illinois’ pension funding mechanism, which is similar to Rhode Island’s. Basically, it has to…