One of Charlie Baker’s big lines in his opening forays into the Governor’s race was that, by doing unspecified bad things, the Democratic leadership of Massachusetts, and (of course) Governor Patrick specifically, made a national economic problem much much worse locally — that is, they turned “a crisis into a catastrophe.”
But those numbers are pesky things, and they beg to differ.
Massachusetts is poised to recover from the economic downturn sooner and faster than the nation as a whole, boosted by increasing exports and business spending that drive key industries here and supported by a sound banking system and growing labor force, analysts say.
Signs of an earlier recovery are already emerging in the state as employment losses slow to a crawl, leading sectors add jobs, and the housing market rebounds. Over the past three months, for example, the pace of job losses in Massachusetts slipped to an annual rate of about a half percent, compared with nearly 3 percent nationally, according to US Labor Department data.
Temporary employment, which economists consider a leading indicator of the job market, has increased in each of the past four months in Massachusetts, even as it declines nationally. Home sales, adjusted for seasonal variations, have soared nearly 50 percent in the state since hitting bottom in January, compared with less than 20 percent nationally. Not a single Massachusetts bank has failed during the recession, compared with more than 100 nationally.
Gosh, look at that! And how did we do before, when Republicans were in charge of the corner office?
That’s certainly a change from past recessions, when technology crashes resulted in deeper downturns and weaker recoveries for the state. Massachusetts shed more than 6 percent of its jobs in the 2001 recession, compared with 2 percent nationally. In the recession of the early 1990s, which was worsened by a real estate collapse, Massachusetts lost more than 11 percent of its jobs, compared with 1.5 percent nationally.
Read the whole article — it’s quite interesting. And before you GOoPer sympathizers get your knickers all in a twist, yes, I’m well aware that a significant part of what’s going on here is that the hardest-hit industries were never big players here in MA.
The point, though, is this: yes, things are tough here. But things are tough everywhere, and they are a lot tougher elsewhere than they are here. As painful as a lot of the cuts have been around here — and I do not mean to minimize that — all you have to do is read some of those blogs from other states to get a sense that it really is worse there than it is here. I’m not exactly sure what those who question Governor Patrick’s actions in light of the recession think he should have done differently or better. I’d honestly like to know.
…he could have been a leader with regards to our fiscal situation and not have been in the position of reacting to the budget crisis. Even during the ’06 election, it was understood that the budget was held together with duck tape and gum. Instead of righting the ship with programmatic reforms (such as conflicting rules from different human service agencies that wasted money and without helping the intended recipient of programs) or fiscal reforms (which should be far more substantial than the bandaids he just signed); the Governor ignored all signs of fiscal reality and started floating billions of dollars in bonds for various spending projects (many of which were arguably needed).
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p>Pardon me for being such a tough critic, but I don’t accept the bar you set–comparing MA with other states. I think my bar is fair and reasonable and that is the bar Gov. Patrick set for himself during the campaign trail…you know, the $800 million in waste he said he’d find–but never did, or the changing of how we make decisions and set policy in the state, but then decided to hire people who knew were the bodies were buried. (I’ll give him a pass on the property tax relief and hiring 1,000 cops, given realty). Compared to his rhetoric, he is a complete failure as Governor.
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p>Let’s face it, Patrick is a man of vision to create and implement new programs and initiatives…given the times we are in, he’s the wrong person who has demonstrated time and again that he can not lead state government with the skills that are needed today (although if he was half the Governor he was, that candidate Deval said he would be, he’d be a great Governor. That simply is not the case.)
In what realm does fiscal reality mean failing to maintain bridges and other infrastructure?
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p>As I recall it, other candidates in 2006 were falling all over themselves to discuss how big an income tax cut the state could afford. Candidate Patrick was clear that the state and cities and towns could not maintain services with reduced revenues and supported options to allow cities and towns to raise additional revenues and reduce costs, measures which have since been adopted.
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p>The economy is extremely tough and state revenues have plunged. The state’s leadership has had its disagreements over the contents of reform legislation and how to raise needed revenues. But unlike many other states, Massachusetts’ leadership reached agreement and completed and balanced its budget on time. This is a testament to effective leadership.
I would submit that Gov. Patrick understood precisely that the budget as of ’07 was held together with duct tape and gum. Therefore: Closing corporate tax loopholes, local option taxes, etc. etc. (If I do my homework, I can do a whole post on this.) And as Bean mentioned, the 5.3% income tax is still in effect.
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p>The intent was to lessen the impact of the property tax at the time; but I am definitely glad some of these things were in effect given the collapse in tax revenues as a result of the nationwide financial meltdown.
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p>I’m sorry Frank, I just wonder what game you’ve been watching. We’re a hell of lot better off than any number of states: NY, NJ, CA, off the top of my head. Look around.
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p>I think the Governors signature failling is in his initial underestimation of how venal, obstreperous and, let’s face it, corrupt is the state legislature. This is an indication of an essential (though, admittedly, at times imperfect) humility and a willingness to believe that others are acting and/or speaking in good faith. I think he’s largely gotten over that, now…
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p>Nearly three years on the lege is largely in line, having signed onto three items they initially opposed and thought to ignore or kill altogether: tax increases, transportation and ethics reform. They’ve come so far in line, actually, that they’re even begin to embrace the Governors bad ideas… l’m speaking, of course, of destination casinos. But it’s clear, at least to me, that Deval has the upper hand and, by and large, control of the conversation. Just the tax increase alone, and the concommitant, and complete, public acceptance belies the last SIXTEEN years of tax bashing and warmed-over voodoo Reaganomics.
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p>I don’t think the Commonwealth, right now, would be in such good shape, had somebody else… anybody else… won the previous election, but particularly the given opponent. You think a Kerry Healey election victory would have placed us in this place? She’d probably be entering her second year as Ambassador to Micronesia and we’d have whatever mouth-breathing flunky she left us with… It’d be just like the second coming of Jane Swift.
BOSTON – Sunday, September 27, 2009 – The following is a statement from Governor Deval Patrick on today’s report in the Boston Globe indicating that Massachusetts is set to emerge from the economic downturn more quickly than the rest of the nation.
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p>”The Boston Globe’s report today on the Massachusetts economy is very hopeful — and no accident. Our IT and banking sectors are strong and getting stronger. Our investments in life sciences and clean energy have helped us to weather this economic downturn. Like the health care and education sectors, all of these areas of focus have and will accelerate our recovery. We have been working hard to improve the climate for business investment and quality of life for residents. That’s what “investing for the long-term” means, and why we won’t let up until every business, every worker and every family shares in the promise of a brighter future.”
What happenned? Oct 15th and the State is near bankruptcy? i thought we were doing so well?