StateImpact's going to be on NHPR's "The Exchange"
Remember our coverage of how vacation homes affect New Hampshire’s economy? It just so happens those stories caught the attention of host Laura Knoy and the motley band of producers who work on NHPR’s daily call-in show “The Exchange.” We’ll be part of the guest panel talking in-depth about the Granite State’s second home economy this Monday, November 21st, starting at 9:00 am.
So feel free to tune-in–and call-in–with your questions!
In the meantime, if you’d like to catch up on our vacation home coverage, it’s all archived here.
We're trusting the collective wisdom of the crowd to pick our top StateImpact posts for the week
Student debt dominated our coverage last week, and for a good part of this week as well. And it looks like you definitely dug it. Normally, we like to keep our weekly top posts roundup to 5 but it just so happens that this time around, a couple of the posts you really, really liked were things that we aggregated from other sites.
So what does that mean?
In addition to our regular five posts, we’ll include two more original StateImpact posts you might have missed.
Although unemployment figures are down from their peak, one economist says the prospects for near-term job growth in New Hampshire aren't great
Just a little bit ago, when we announced our plans to live-blog the New England Economic Partnership’s regional conference tomorrow. Economists, demographers, and sundry analysts will provide their best predictions–based on the numbers–of what the near future holds for the six New England states.
Tomorrow we'll be live-blogging the latest on trends shaping New England's economy
While a few numbers are dripping into newsrooms today, tomorrow is the big day for looking ahead at the economic future of the region. From 8:30 am until 2:00 pm, economists from all over New England will gather at the University of New Hampshire-Manchester to dish on revenue, employment, and demographic trends shaping our area.
We know–in some ways, it sounds like a real wonk-fest.
So StateImpact will be there, with our Little Orphan Annie Decoder Ring at the ready.
We’ll be live-blogging the whole event, working around the jargon to give you the trends, facts, and stats that are shaping New Hampshire and New England as a whole.
We’ll be throwing out our thoughts and questions in real-time.
It’ll be fun.
Best of all, both wonks and non-wonks are invited!
So feel free to come and go as you please, and keep checking in with us. Or just follow along the whole time for the ultimate “You Are There Regional Economic Conference Experience.”
Ed. Note: Yesterday, we posted a piece headlined: “Why One New Hampshire Town Voted To Raise Its Own Tax.” In that story, we inadvertently identified Andover, Massachusetts as Andover, New Hampshire. Additionally, it’s important to note that unlike Massachusetts, New Hampshire residents cannot actually vote to raise their local taxes.
Business is booming at Ted's Stateline Mobil in Methuen, Massachusetts
Recently, we’ve been checking-in on the health of the New Hampshire lottery. (You can read our previous posts here, here, and here.) And in the world of state-sanctioned gambling, the lotto is a big deal. It funds New Hampshire’s public education system, and revenues have been dipping over the past few years. A number of sources who have talked to StateImpact (we’ll name names in a later post) have noted that part of New Hampshire’s problem is its southern neighbor, Massachusetts.
New Hampshire leads the nation in average student debt
Starting last week, and continuing today, we’ve been focusing on a report from the Project on Student Debt. Nationally, the average Class of 2010 student graduated with $25,250 in loans, while New Hampshire alumni carried student debt loads of $31,048, on average.
Although it’s clear that average student debt in New Hampshire is high, there are some differences from school to school. For example, University of New Hampshire students attending the Durham campus graduated with the highest debt — an average of $32,323, Dartmouth grads only carried less than $19,000 in loans.
As we noted in yesterday’s post about the relatively low debt load among recent Dartmouth alumni, high levels of student debt can have both long- and short-term economic effects. Heavy loan burdens can prevent recent graduates from making major purchases, or even from moving out of their parents’ houses. High levels of debt can also have a negative effect on long-term savings and economic stability. Then, of course, if young people can’t afford a New Hampshire education, the state risks its reputation as a leader in supplying workers for the knowledge-based economy. Continue Reading →
Student debt is a growing concern across the country...but it's recent New Hampshire alumni who are carrying the heaviest loan burden on average
New Hampshire alumni lead the pack when it comes to average student debt, according to a report from the Project on Student Debt. Nationally, the average Class of 2010 student graduated with $25,250 in loans, while New Hampshire alumni carried student debt loads of $31,048, on average.
So why does student debt matter for the state’s economy? At the risk of over-simplifying economic theory, if recent graduates are saddled with high debt levels, there are some things they might not be able to afford to do. For example, big purchases, like cars, could be out of the question. Increasingly, all over the country, more young people are living at home after graduation. Also, as several economists have explained to us, people dealing with deep debt in general have a hard time saving money. When that happens on a large scale, the economy becomes more unstable.
So student debt in New Hampshire is high, but there are disparities within the state. University of New Hampshire students attending the Durham campus graduated with the highest debt — an average of $32,323, Dartmouth grads only carried less than $19,000 in loans. Continue Reading →
It’s been a busy week at StateImpact New Hampshire. We were trucking along on our expected path, when a handy-dandy report from the Project on Student Debt came out, ranking the Granite State #1 for student debt load. So we pounced on it. And not surprisingly, this topic’s dominated our click-counter.
You can catch our top five posts of the week after the jump. If you missed one, or just want to double-check something, just click on the title. Continue Reading →
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