As Commonwealth magazine reports, domestic video game sales totaled $15 billion in 2010 — $5 billion more than domestic box office revenue.
A Boston-based polling center says consumer confidence in Massachusetts is on the rise, a sign the economy may soon see more spending.
In a recent report, the independent, nonpartisan think tank MassINC mapped out a strategy to support smart transportation spending based on what our economic competitors are doing successfully in other states – paying for transportation regionally with measures approved by voters at the ballot box.
Panelists described Gateway Cities' predicament and existing revitalization efforts.
Benjamin Forman, researcher director at MassINC, a think tank that first identified the cities, gave a background presentation, noting the difficulties — a tendency to focus on Boston over other cities — and the opportunities in the smaller cities — existing infrastructure and under-utilized labor force.
Patrick...cited a MassINC poll claiming 77 percent of the public supports an expansion of the bottle bill.
“You’re talking about people in the same state, but it looks like different worlds to me,’’ said Andrew Sum, director of Northeastern University’s Center for Labor Market Studies and author of “Recapturing the American Dream,’’ an analysis of the Massachusetts economy over the past three decades. “This is not the way our state used to be - back in 1979, we were among the national leaders in income equality. Now, we’re a national leader in inequality.’’
“Whoa. It’s you. What happened? A lot of people have been asking about you, you know.’’“So I’ve heard,’’ said the American Dream.
“It’s been what, 10 years, give or take?’’
“That’s what the latest MassINC report says.’’
This week, MassINC released a status report on the state of the American Dream in Massachusetts. To no one’s surprise, the new data on where we stand after 10 years of no growth, income polarization and negative labor market shifts show the dream diminished for many of our residents; one in three, the report states, now fear they will fall out of the middle class.