Economy
For all the talk about equity and living wages in the Ocean State, we hear surprisingly little about the lack of opportunity and earnings growth for working people. A recent Wall Street Journal editorial understandably focuses on larger states, but Rhode Island makes an appearance, nonetheless: Earnings nationwide rose 5.4% on average between the first…
Homelessness may be the most striking issue on the table in the degree to which proposed solutions conspicuously ignore causes. The attitude of the advocates and journalists seems to be that homelessness falls like an original cause on a metro area and can only be addressed through direct government reduction. That’s a careless approach; an…
John DePetro and Justin Katz discuss evidence of unions’ tightening grip on Rhode Island and other political topics.
A form declaring status as an “independent contractor” isn’t quite as dramatic as some are saying, but it’s still an indication of Rhode Island’s terrible priorities and special-interest favoratism.
John DePetro and Justin Katz review the political news of the day in Rhode Island.
Clearing out some old links reminded me that Rhode Island’s “pay equity” statute goes into effect this year, as Jack Kelly wrote in Forbes in late 2021. While generally supportive of the legislation, Kelly did acknowledge the potential for “unintended consequences”: According to Joshua Nadreau, a partner in the Boston office of the labor and employment…
John DePetro and Justin Katz discuss the costliness of Rhode Island government’s decisions.
Artsy people’s complaining about gauche wealth-culture is nothing new, but something about this complaint by progressive podcaster and musician Bill Bartholomew struck me as oblivious of the obvious: Working late on Friday to frame out a roof on Ocean Drive 15 years ago, while watching BMWs roll by, I had similar thoughts. But I also…
Justin Roias — the Providence City Councilor for the ward covering the North End — doesn’t like self-storage facilities. That’s fine, but his response and reasoning raise crucial points of organization and problem solving: I came across Roias’s tweet via Rachel Miller, who is participating in “the effort to update our zoning laws to prohibit…
John DePetro and Justin Katz walk through how the effects of today’s education, or lack thereof, are trickling through all facets of society.