State Workers: Overpaid, Underpaid, Or Just Right?
Citizens Against Government Waste
Emily Corwin
Emily Corwin reported on economics for the StateImpact New Hampshire blog until the project merged with the New Hampshire Public Radio site in July 2013. She is now NHPR’s Seacoast Reporter. You can follow her on Twitter at @emilycorwin, and find her stories on NHPR.org.
- Email: emily@stateimpact.org
- Twitter: @emilycorwin
N.H.’s Productivity Weakening As Neighboring Economies Grow
Center For Public Policy Studies
New Hampshire may have weathered the recession relatively well, but as other states’ economies are growing, New Hampshire’s is slowing down. That’s the word from the Center for Public Policy Studies, which released a report this week outlining some discouraging trends in New Hampshire’s economy. One of the study’s authors, Dennis Delay, spoke with NHPR’s Brady Carlson about the study.
“Over the long term, places with strong, distinctive identities are more likely to prosper than places without them…. Livability is not a middle-class luxury. It is an economic imperative” – Robert Solow
Delay says the CPPS turned to the celebrated economist Robert Solow, whose model of economic growth relies on three elements: (1) the availability of labor; (2) an increase in skills and productivity of that labor force; and (3) investment by companies in things like machinery and software.
Obama For America N.H. Rallies Small Business Owners
Small business owners are a contested demographic for the battling presidential campaigns. A September poll from George Washington University suggests the President is leading Governor Romney in support from small business owners, while an August poll by Manta put Romney in the lead with a wide margin. Continue Reading
It’s All Relative: Economic Growth In N.H. Slows Compared To Neighboring States
Brian Gottlob / PolEcon
Employment rates in New England and United States
New Hampshire’s economic strength relative to its neighbors has declined over the last year – and over the last decade. That’s concerning some economists in the state, who came together this week to discuss challenges at a lunch sponsored by the Manchester Chamber of Commerce. Continue Reading
Who Built What? Diving Deeper Into ‘We Built This’ Campaign Rhetoric
Emily Corwin / NHPR
Jack Gilchrist at his home
The three words of what has become Governor Romney’s campaign slogan, “We Built This,” are hard to avoid these days.
One could argue they exemplify a political rhetoric that pits business-loving Romney supporters against government-loving supporters of President Obama. And although “we built this” has become a rallying cry for the right, we found that even New Hampshire businessman Jack Gilchrist — who has become the face of the slogan — has had enough of the divisive tactics. So has long-time free-market economist, Brian Gottlob. So what’s behind the We Built This slogan, and how much do entrepreneurs really relate? Continue Reading
Outside Spending Plays Large Role In N.H. Campaigns
This article was written by Brian Wallstin for NHPR.
In the days leading up to the September 11 primary, a Manchester-based political action committee called New Hampshire Republicans for Freedom and Equality launched a direct-mail campaign to support the re-election of 40 Republican House members who helped turn back efforts to repeal the state’s same-sex marriage law. Continue Reading
New Hampshire Fares Well In American Community Survey
The American Community Survey (ACS), a biennial report from the Census Department, was released this morning. Among the 50 states, New Hampshire fared well. In 2011, New Hampshire’s median income of $67,308 ranked second in the nation after Maryland — dropping one rung from 2009, when the state ranked first, with a median household income of $68.187.
The national median is $50,443.
Other high-ranking states Maryland, Connecticut, New Jersey and Massachusetts.
New Hampshire also ranked well when it came to economic disparity. Measured with a number called the “Gini Index,” income inequality was lowest in Wyoming, Idaho, and Alaska.
Lynch Promotes Lean Government at Summit
It’s not every day you hear state officials quoting Kipling and Goethe. But in a keynote speech this morning, Sam McKeeman, the Programs Manager at the Maine Bureau of Human Resources, recited the first stanza of Kipling’s “Six Honest Serving Men” to 350 or so people, gathered at the Police Standards & Training Council building in Concord, New Hampshire. Continue Reading
BIA Panel Considers Commuter Rail
Stuart Williams / Flickr
This November, commuter rail in Maine begins running all the way from Brunswick, Maine, to Boston. Meanwhile, Massachusetts is preparing to extend lines from Springfield to Burlington, Vermont. That leaves some people in New Hampshire feeling a little left out.
Peter Burling is the former chair of the New Hampshire Rail Transit Authority. Speaking at an event this week hosted by the New Hampshire Business Industry Association, Burling said that without commuter rail, New Hampshire will lose its competitive edge. “Everybody around us is doing something amazing. We are becoming the donut hole in the economic system,” he told an audience who had gathered in Concord to hear panelists discuss the future of rail in New Hampshire.
After A Tenuous Year, N.H. Fishery Receives Disaster Declaration
This story was written and produced for broadcast by Sam Evans-Brown, and edited for StateImpact New Hampshire by Emily Corwin. Hear the original broadcast.
Roger Goun / Flickr
It’s been a difficult year for New Hampshire fishermen. Although fishermen have stayed within their catch limits, stocks of codfish haven’t rebounded from a decade-old collapse as quickly as expected.
Facing cuts and closures imposed by regulators, New Hampshire fishermen say the government is putting them out of business. And Thursday, the government heard their call.
The federal government declared a disaster in the Northeast Multispecies Groundfish Fishery, which could mean relief for struggling fishermen. Continue Reading