Speaker 1: It's Night Side with Dan Ray on WBS Boston's news Radio.
Speaker 2: Thanks very much, Dan Watkins, welcome back everyone to our
Speaker 2: second hour on nine o'clock hour here on Wednesday night,
Speaker 2: June eleventh, and delighted to be joined this hour by
Speaker 2: Aiden Enwright. Aiden is economic research associate at the Pioneer
Speaker 2: Institute for Public Policy Research. I think most of you
Speaker 2: know that I've had several guests on from the Pioneer
Speaker 2: Institute to say it's a financial think tank and it
Speaker 2: has a couple of reports coming out, both of which
Speaker 2: are concerning, I think substantially concerning. To be really honest
Speaker 2: with you, and I hope, I hope that some of
Speaker 2: you will participate. It's always difficult to talk about numbers
Speaker 2: on the radio, so just sit back and listen and
Speaker 2: take this in and then we can we can talk
Speaker 2: about it. Aiden En, right, welcome back to Nightside. How
Speaker 2: are you, sir?
Speaker 3: Hi Dan, Thanks for having me on again.
Speaker 2: Let's start with the clearer, cleaner example that we want
Speaker 2: to talk about, and that is the fact that since
Speaker 2: the COVID pandemic struck in twenty twenty, since then, we
Speaker 2: have lost here in Massachusetts thirty thousand jobs First of all,
Speaker 2: that's an incredible number of jobs to lose at any
Speaker 2: point in time. Can we write that off and say, well,
Speaker 2: that's the consequence of the pandemic.
Speaker 3: I don't really think so. You know, if we looked
Speaker 3: at how we're comparing to other states, pretty much almost
Speaker 3: every single other state in the country has returned to
Speaker 3: pre pandemic employment levels and beyond. Massachusetts is one of
Speaker 3: only four other states that have lost jobs since twenty twenty,
Speaker 3: and that's detrimental to the state.
Speaker 2: Who are the other states that have lost jobs? I mean,
Speaker 2: there are fifty states in the Union. Massachusetts is one.
Speaker 2: We're down about thirty thousand. These are private sector jobs.
Speaker 3: Correct, Yeah, these are just private sector jobs, so we're
Speaker 3: not talking about government jobs. The other states that have
Speaker 3: also lost employment one is Vermont, the other is Hawaii
Speaker 3: partially due to you know, reductions and tourism during the pandemic,
Speaker 3: and then the last one is Iowa.
Speaker 2: So for us to lose thirty thousand private sector jobs,
Speaker 2: are they high paying jobs that? Do we have any
Speaker 2: way of tracking as to what type of jobs we're
Speaker 2: bleeding we're losing?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 3: The one thing I go into in the report that's
Speaker 3: going to be out is that there's an industry breakdown
Speaker 3: in the jobs that we're losing. Some are quote unquote
Speaker 3: lower skills, lower paying, like retail or transportation. We lost
Speaker 3: about twenty seven thousand retail jobs, but they're also in
Speaker 3: some sect high growth and are typically high growth and
Speaker 3: high wage sectors as well. In manufacturing, we've lost over
Speaker 3: that thirteen thousand jobs. In information, we've lost an additional
Speaker 3: seven one thousand, and most concertingly to me, since twenty
Speaker 3: twenty two, we've lost about eleven thousand jobs and what's
Speaker 3: called the professional, scientific and Technical services center sector, and
Speaker 3: basically that kind of what's included in that sector are
Speaker 3: say like biopharma research and development firms and other tech
Speaker 3: related jobs.
Speaker 2: Okay, now thirty thousand, So we've obviously, when you say
Speaker 2: we've lost twenty thousand here or ten thousand there, there
Speaker 2: are also some jobs that have filled in the gap.
Speaker 2: I mean, again, I don't want to get too much
Speaker 2: in the weeds here, but if we're losing thirty thousand
Speaker 2: jobs and the majority of them are retail jobs, I
Speaker 2: think you said it was twenty seven thousand retail.
Speaker 3: Jobs, yes, twenty seven thousand.
Speaker 2: Okay, have that's overall. So are we picking up jobs
Speaker 2: that are more than offsetting the jobs that we're losing.
Speaker 2: I mean, when you say thirty thousand jobs lost, that's
Speaker 2: a big number, and it would almost fill Fenway Park,
Speaker 2: and it would fill the Boston Ground and close to
Speaker 2: a couple of times. But are we picking up better
Speaker 2: paying jobs, you know? Or are we look or are
Speaker 2: there other statistics that would seem to indicate that we're
Speaker 2: really we're getting hurt here in Massachusetts.
Speaker 1: No.
Speaker 3: I mean, there are certain sectors that are a little
Speaker 3: bit more resilient to kind of economic downturns or economic uncertainty.
Speaker 3: So something might be healthcare and social assistance sector in Massachusetts,
Speaker 3: or educational services. Those have grown in employment, but they
Speaker 3: haven't grown own to the extent to offset the jobs
Speaker 3: that we've been losing in other fields.
Speaker 2: And those those are not necessarily high paying jobs.
Speaker 3: No, they're not necessarily high paying depend they.
Speaker 2: Should maybe should be getting more money. But at this point, okay,
Speaker 2: so we'll focus on the jobs for another moment or two.
Speaker 2: What the headline here, and I don't want to bury
Speaker 2: the headline or bury the lead, is that there's only
Speaker 2: four states in the Union that overall have fewer jobs
Speaker 2: private sector jobs today. If we lose private sector jobs
Speaker 2: at that rate, we also might find ourselves, in my opinion,
Speaker 2: with a problem of tax revenues which would support public
Speaker 2: sector jobs. I assume some public sector jobs are going
Speaker 2: to be impacted by whatever cuts the Trump administration makes,
Speaker 2: and then are are not subject court challenges. So it
Speaker 2: looks to me like this is a bit of a
Speaker 2: perfect storm. Or am I over am I overreacting?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 3: I mean there there are several you know, cascading type
Speaker 3: effects that would happen from you know, a decline in
Speaker 3: private employment. You know, in Massachusetts, we want good, high
Speaker 3: paying jobs. You know, we want people to be able
Speaker 3: to grow up in Massachusetts and be able to start
Speaker 3: their careers and work here or start their own businesses.
Speaker 3: You know, if we're not creating those jobs, if we're
Speaker 3: not creating those opportunities for people, you know, some young
Speaker 3: people are going to look elsewhere to put roots down.
Speaker 3: And then you know, we're also going to miss out
Speaker 3: from you know, the revenue that in taxes that those
Speaker 3: people would be proding to our local governments. That might
Speaker 3: cost public sector jobs for the government. It might mean
Speaker 3: that there's you know, there's not as much growth in
Speaker 3: assistance programs, so it just makes the budget a bit tighter,
Speaker 3: and so you know that's another effect.
Speaker 2: Okay, when we get back from the break, there's another
Speaker 2: study that you've done which complements this study. Pretty well.
Speaker 2: All of us have heard of the gross Domestic product
Speaker 2: the GDP. You've come up with a statistic for the
Speaker 2: gross state product, and there's not much there that is
Speaker 2: of great comfort. Let me put it like that. Well,
Speaker 2: we'll break down those numbers, we'll see that they do
Speaker 2: sort of reflect one another, and then we'll open it
Speaker 2: up to phone calls and maybe some people will be
Speaker 2: a little bit more optimistic. Both of these reports are concerning,
Speaker 2: maybe not frightening, but they're concerning and they need to
Speaker 2: be considered in the months and the years ahead. We'll
Speaker 2: be back on Nightside. My guest is from the Pioneer Institute,
Speaker 2: which is a really solid think tank. Aiden Enwright joins us.
Speaker 2: We'll be back right after this break with more conversation.
Speaker 1: If you're on Night Side with Dan Ray on w
Speaker 1: b Z, Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2: We're talking with aiden Enright and the numbers that the
Speaker 2: Pioneer Institute has for us. They're not good numbers. Okay,
Speaker 2: so let's talk. We've talked about job loss, and there
Speaker 2: are only four states in the country from mont Iowa, Hawaii,
Speaker 2: and Massachusetts who have fewer jobs private sector jobs today.
Speaker 2: Do you know, off hand, aiden, if our public sector
Speaker 2: has grown during that same period of time. I suspect
Speaker 2: it has.
Speaker 3: It has to a certain extent, not as much as
Speaker 3: some other states, but yes, it has grown.
Speaker 2: Right. Well, I know that the most recent state budget
Speaker 2: was sixty two billion dollars, and I know it wasn't
Speaker 2: sixty or anywhere near sixty billion dollars. It was probably
Speaker 2: much more in the forties five years ago, when you know,
Speaker 2: Charlie Baker was in the midst of his second term.
Speaker 2: So I suspect that we probably have we have more
Speaker 2: public sector employees, more state employees, more municipal employees, and
Speaker 2: fewer private sector employees. That's a that's a strategy for
Speaker 2: economic disaster. And along with that, you folks at Pioneer
Speaker 2: have done a have developed a program to judge what
Speaker 2: we call the gross state product, sort of modeled after
Speaker 2: the GDP, the gross domestic product. And it sounds to
Speaker 2: me as if we in Massachusetts are not nearly as
Speaker 2: productive as we were a few years ago. And correct
Speaker 2: me if I'm wrong. I think I've read your report accurately.
Speaker 2: We used to be, on a per capita basis, the
Speaker 2: fourth most productive state in the Union. We now have dropped.
Speaker 2: I believe the statistics suggest to the twenty eighth most
Speaker 2: productive state. Is that correct?
Speaker 3: So I would frame it a little bit differently Massachusetts. Yeah, sure,
Speaker 3: Massachusetts is still the second most productive state in the country,
Speaker 3: only trailing New York, but it's not growing at the
Speaker 3: same rate as other states. And so between nineteen ninety
Speaker 3: eight and twenty nineteen, Massachusetts was growing at the fourth like,
Speaker 3: it was growing at the fourth fastest rate out of
Speaker 3: all states. But since twenty twenty that growth has slowed down,
Speaker 3: and now our growth is twenty eight fastest out of
Speaker 3: all states.
Speaker 2: Okay, so we're this is a measurement of growth, and obviously,
Speaker 2: what do we have to do to get the growth
Speaker 2: kickstarted or or get that growth ticking up a little bit,
Speaker 2: because obviously if we keep falling behind every year, that's
Speaker 2: that's that is not doesn't augur well.
Speaker 3: Either, Yeah, certainly, you know, during the pandemic and following it,
Speaker 3: a lot of states really kind of rethought their economic
Speaker 3: strategies for how to grow. You know, if you look
Speaker 3: at states like Florida, or Texas, or North Carolina, even
Speaker 3: New Hampshire, they've really aggressively recruited businesses. They've streamlined permitting,
Speaker 3: they've kept taxes really low, and they've built housing out
Speaker 3: to accommodate new residents into their state to continue to grow.
Speaker 3: You know, in that time, Massachusetts, while we've made changes
Speaker 3: here and there, we've mostly stayed with the same old
Speaker 3: playbook and it's really no longer working. You know, if
Speaker 3: we want to retain our innovation economy, if we want
Speaker 3: to retain our economic growth, create good, good paying jobs,
Speaker 3: you know, we need to make some changes to make
Speaker 3: the state more affordable to attract businesses, to make it
Speaker 3: easier to start a business here. We need to make
Speaker 3: it so that we can grow the housing stocks that
Speaker 3: people can afford to live here. It's kind of an
Speaker 3: across the board things that needs to happen.
Speaker 2: So how have we lost our way? I mean, there
Speaker 2: was a period of time when we had a democratic
Speaker 2: legislature and from you know, going back to the time
Speaker 2: of John Volpi, and going back to the to the
Speaker 2: more recent time of Well Frank Sergeant Bill Weld, Paul Salucci,
Speaker 2: Mitt Romney, Charlie Baker, we had Republican governors and democratic
Speaker 2: legislator legislature was right now we have a democratic governor
Speaker 2: and democratic legislature, and we've been in that situation now
Speaker 2: for two and a half years. I know the Pioneer
Speaker 2: Institute is not going to get political. I don't want
Speaker 2: you to get political on me. But I'm looking at
Speaker 2: a correlation there which says that the things need to
Speaker 2: need to get shaken up here in Massachusetts a little bit. Oh,
Speaker 2: we're going to continue to drift down. This this chart
Speaker 2: that I'm looking at the private sector per capitol real
Speaker 2: GSP growth. You know, the the we're way down. We're
Speaker 2: down at like twelve point five percent. Florida is twice
Speaker 2: as much as we are in terms of growth. Texas
Speaker 2: is almost twice as much the national We're below the
Speaker 2: national average and growth. You know, if you take states
Speaker 2: that have a lot of problems that we don't have, Alabama, Mississippi,
Speaker 2: some of those states we may be ahead of them,
Speaker 2: but that's about the only people we're ahead of. North
Speaker 2: Carolina's ahead of us, as you mentioned, Texas, Florida. How
Speaker 2: do we turn this around?
Speaker 3: Yeah, Well, I think one bit is that after the
Speaker 3: pandemic or during it, a lot of states decided to
Speaker 3: lower taxes on individuals, lower their tax rates in several
Speaker 3: different categories, and Massachusetts instead decided to raise taxes on
Speaker 3: wealthy or individuals. Also, during that period of time, there
Speaker 3: have been several cities and other states that have made
Speaker 3: moves to streamline regulations related to housing development. And so
Speaker 3: while these states have done that, Massachusetts has made some
Speaker 3: incremental change, but it hasn't really had an effect on
Speaker 3: the state's housing stock. You know, between twenty eleven and
Speaker 3: twenty twenty three, we had more housing permitted in each
Speaker 3: of those years than we did in twenty twenty four.
Speaker 3: So we're not really changing enough to kind of build
Speaker 3: out the state and make it a place for businesses
Speaker 3: and for talent and people to locate to.
Speaker 2: My guess is, Aidenn, right, We're going to take a
Speaker 2: break here for the news at the bottom of the
Speaker 2: air if you'd like to join us, if you have
Speaker 2: thoughts on these statistics, which frankly are not are not heartening.
Speaker 2: I wouldn't call them frightening, but they are. They are
Speaker 2: concerning statistics. To me, I'd love to hear from you again.
Speaker 2: I know statistics are tough on radio, but if you
Speaker 2: follow the conversation, love to get your point of view.
Speaker 2: Six one, seven, two, five, four to ten thirty or
Speaker 2: six one, seven, nine, three, one ten thirty back with
Speaker 2: Aiden en Wright and your calls and comments. Aiden is
Speaker 2: with the Pioneer Institute, which is a great think tank
Speaker 2: here in Massachusetts, and I just wish that our political
Speaker 2: leaders would pay a little more attention to what these
Speaker 2: reports are trying to tell them. Back on night Side
Speaker 2: after the News at the bottom of.
Speaker 1: The hour, You're on night Side with Dan Ray. I'm
Speaker 1: w b Z, Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 2: Okay, we have waded through the numbers, and the numbers
Speaker 2: don't lie. I mean, the numbers are there to be
Speaker 2: looked at, and I want to talk to callers. I
Speaker 2: want to give I want to give you an opportunity
Speaker 2: to challenge numbers, to say the numbers don't matter, which
Speaker 2: I think is a silly position to take. But if
Speaker 2: you want to take that position, that's fine. You cannot
Speaker 2: continue to grow the commonwealth if you're losing private sector
Speaker 2: jobs at the same time you're increasing the state budget.
Speaker 2: It just at some point, particularly in a state where
Speaker 2: the governor is mandated constitutionally to balance the budget. And
Speaker 2: we're also in a state where the state auditor, who
Speaker 2: happens to be a Democrat by the way, is attempting
Speaker 2: to audit the state legislature, both basically most of whom
Speaker 2: are Democrats, and this saying to the state auditor, mind
Speaker 2: your own business. Guess what it's Diane Desauglio's business to
Speaker 2: audit the legislature, amongst other things. Let's go to the phones.
Speaker 2: Let me go first off to Paul in nan Tasket
Speaker 2: down by the water's edge. Paul, welcome to night side.
Speaker 2: Your next damn, what's going on? Well, you're you're hearing
Speaker 2: some numbers here. I'd love to know what you think
Speaker 2: you're wrong with aident.
Speaker 5: I've got a couple of things that's speaking.
Speaker 3: The numbers whatever.
Speaker 5: Two and a half we have the old property two.
Speaker 2: And a half still in fact. Prop two and a
Speaker 2: half is still in effect, but it allows and has
Speaker 2: allowed every year to increase and aidens will help me
Speaker 2: out here, not necessarily to limit your property tax it
Speaker 2: limits the tax levee that the town can cumulatively announce.
Speaker 2: So let's say that that there's a property tax levee.
Speaker 2: All the property tax in your community is one hundred
Speaker 2: million dollars. That means that a year from now, even
Speaker 2: with Prop two and a half, it can go up
Speaker 2: two and a half percent, So it can go up
Speaker 2: to one hundred and two and a half million dollars.
Speaker 2: And someone's got to pick up that additional two and
Speaker 2: a half million dollars, and in some cases it's gonna
Speaker 2: be guys like.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 6: So here's the first thing. And the second thing is
Speaker 6: a lot of these city and towns are used in
Speaker 6: Chapter ninety money, which is eroads when you fixture roads
Speaker 6: and stuff. Now I find out that a lot of
Speaker 6: city in towns they can buy equipment through Chapter ninety.
Speaker 6: That's like loaders, you know, trucks that you use in
Speaker 6: the road. So instead of paving, they're buying all this
Speaker 6: stuff without going to town meetings. And they're taking this
Speaker 6: Chapter ninety money they used to go for one hundred
Speaker 6: percent for roads and they use it to buy their
Speaker 6: own equipment. You have to see somebody sitting in town.
Speaker 6: They got the best equipment than the contractors have and
Speaker 6: no one knows how to use it.
Speaker 2: So let's see. Let me see if Aidan wants to
Speaker 2: weigh in on that two points that Paul has made.
Speaker 2: I hope I haven't misled him on to the chapter
Speaker 2: the prop two and a half situation, everybody thought, well
Speaker 2: that my taxes can only go up two and a
Speaker 2: half percent. It's the entire levee that the town or
Speaker 2: the city actually can raise two and a half percent.
Speaker 2: So that's number one. And what about his points about
Speaker 2: the towns being able to buy the best equipment with
Speaker 2: money free money from the state.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think on the first point you covered that great, Dan.
Speaker 3: On the second, I don't know if I necessarily have
Speaker 3: the expertise based off of the studies to answer that
Speaker 3: particular question.
Speaker 2: So all right, fair enough, Paul, I assume you know
Speaker 2: of what you speak.
Speaker 4: I do.
Speaker 3: That's why I brought it up.
Speaker 5: You brought it up, so you.
Speaker 2: Brought it up with a lot of conviction. I don't
Speaker 2: think my first answer probably satisfied you, but unfortunately that
Speaker 2: is the truth.
Speaker 6: You know, And thank you Dan for having me on again.
Speaker 2: Well, Paul, you keep calling the show, Okay, and enjoy
Speaker 2: the summer on Nantaska. Thanks so much. Thank you. That's
Speaker 2: a great one. All right, Joining us now is a
Speaker 2: candidate for governor, Brian shortly, Brian, welcome back to Night's Side.
Speaker 2: Thank you for checking in, Thank you for listening to
Speaker 2: the program. Aiden en Wright is our guest. I know
Speaker 2: you probably have some thoughts on what you've heard, but
Speaker 2: you probably knew about this ahead of time. Go right ahead.
Speaker 4: Well, thanks for having me on, Dan and hello Aiden.
Speaker 4: I just wanted to say I think there's a lot
Speaker 4: that we can do to solve the problem of people
Speaker 4: leaving Massachusetts and businesses leaving Massachusetts.
Speaker 2: And I think it.
Speaker 4: Starts with electing a new governor in November of twenty
Speaker 4: twenty six. You know, as I listened to.
Speaker 2: The conversation, I'm sure you have a candidate in mind, Brian.
Speaker 4: I think we could use a businessman, a business builder
Speaker 4: in the corner office. And when I listened to the conversation,
Speaker 4: you know, we know why people in businesses are leaving Massachusetts.
Speaker 4: It's because taxes are too high and electricity bills are
Speaker 4: too high. Those are things a governor can effect on
Speaker 4: day one. You know, a governor on day one could
Speaker 4: cut all those state manded fees out of the utility bill,
Speaker 4: could reduce the costs for business and individuals of utility bills,
Speaker 4: and a governor could really go to go to work
Speaker 4: on reducing taxes and getting state spending under control. Those
Speaker 4: are things that I think, as you mentioned, we've seen
Speaker 4: Republican governors in the past, you know, like Charlie Baker,
Speaker 4: that Romney and Bill Well, and I think it's time
Speaker 4: that we bring a Republican back to the corner office.
Speaker 2: Well, for those who do not know, Brian is one
Speaker 2: of two Republicans you and Mike Kneely are vuying for
Speaker 2: the Republican nomination. I've had both of you on in
Speaker 2: the last month or so. These studies that Pioneer has released.
Speaker 2: They're really good studies if people could take the time
Speaker 2: to read them, and it's tough to explain them Brian
Speaker 2: on the air, because it's numbers and you don't have
Speaker 2: the visual aspect on radio that you do have on television.
Speaker 2: How much would you be relying upon if you're fortunate
Speaker 2: enough to be elected governor on some of the work
Speaker 2: that the Pioneer Institute does, particularly as it relates.
Speaker 4: To well aident pioneer, do incredible work. But I would
Speaker 4: tell you there's a family behind every statistic. Every time
Speaker 4: a company closes because they can't operate here, that's someone
Speaker 4: losing a job. It's someone who can't put food on
Speaker 4: the table, and often it's a young person leaving the state,
Speaker 4: you know, And that means we've got parents like me,
Speaker 4: I've got young kids. You know, got parents and grandparents
Speaker 4: who are losing their loved ones, losing their kids and
Speaker 4: their grandkids to other states. So I think behind these statistics,
Speaker 4: it's really a story of our young people leaving. We've
Speaker 4: got to keep our young people here, and it starts
Speaker 4: with building a private sector economy that can grow in scale.
Speaker 4: At the end of the day, the mark of a
Speaker 4: successful state is a private sector economy that's growing. That
Speaker 4: means people want to be here in businesses want.
Speaker 1: To be here.
Speaker 4: If you're if you're shedding private sector jobs, it means
Speaker 4: you're not a good place to do business. And behind
Speaker 4: those statistics, you know, are a lot of families that
Speaker 4: are that are feeling the pain on companies closing, and
Speaker 4: a lot of parents and grandparents that are seeing their
Speaker 4: loved ones and their children in some cases moving to
Speaker 4: other states. And I think we can turn all that
Speaker 4: around with a much more business oriented approach to cutting taxes,
Speaker 4: cutting feet, and getting our private sector grown again.
Speaker 2: Well, the report that really struck me in Again, I'm
Speaker 2: a fairly I'm a numbers guy, but when Aiden points
Speaker 2: out that since twenty twenty, as most other states have
Speaker 2: recaptured the jobs that were lost as a result of
Speaker 2: the pandemic, and a lot of those jobs were in
Speaker 2: hospitality and as we know, but Massachusetts is now down
Speaker 2: thirty thousand jobs. Those are thirty thousand taxpayers that are
Speaker 2: not contributing to the to the tax base, and there's
Speaker 2: only four states. I was stunned, and Aiden, I assume this.
Speaker 2: I want to get you involved here as well. This
Speaker 2: is a statistic which has to be stunning even to
Speaker 2: Governor Healy to think that since twenty twenty, we're down
Speaker 2: thirty thousand jobs and there's only three other states Vermont, Hawaii,
Speaker 2: which I was impacted badly by tourism in Iowa, and
Speaker 2: I have no idea why Iowa is involved in this,
Speaker 2: but those are the only four states that are down
Speaker 2: jobs since twenty twenty. And I'm stunned by that, Brian,
Speaker 2: I assume you were aware of that.
Speaker 4: Well I am. I am stunned by it as well.
Speaker 4: And I'll tell you another statistic, which Pioneer has done
Speaker 4: a great job over the years tracking, is the amount
Speaker 4: of income moving out of the state. The most recent
Speaker 4: figure we saw on that, which is the twenty twenty
Speaker 4: two number, is four billion dollars of income left the state.
Speaker 4: That's an IRS statistic. More, heally ran on the largest
Speaker 4: tax increase in state history in twenty twenty two, which
Speaker 4: was the millionaire's tax, And since the day that millionaire
Speaker 4: tax came in, we have an added a single private
Speaker 4: sector job. And I expect when the numbers come out
Speaker 4: for twenty twenty three, we will have seen again billions
Speaker 4: of dollars of income leaving the state. Five hundred people
Speaker 4: a week leaving the state. Those are very very real numbers,
Speaker 4: and there's a family, there's a human being behind every
Speaker 4: one of them. But I think these are major issues
Speaker 4: that we need a new governor to really focus on
Speaker 4: and get the state growing again.
Speaker 2: And by the way, not that this is the most importance,
Speaker 2: but for those of you out there who were sports fans,
Speaker 2: when I talked last hour with Kevin Paul DuPont of
Speaker 2: The Boston World Great hockey writer. You know when a
Speaker 2: Brad marsh On who's now playing for Florida looks at
Speaker 2: the possibility of coming back to Massachusetts. All of these
Speaker 2: great players in whether it's hockey, basketball, football, or baseball,
Speaker 2: once they get to those earning years after've been in
Speaker 2: the league for a few years, and the team then
Speaker 2: has to give them the opportunity to go out in
Speaker 2: the free market. All the Boston based teams are going
Speaker 2: to be a tremendous disadvantage, particularly with a lot of
Speaker 2: these states like Tennessee and Texas and Florida, which don't
Speaker 2: have state income taxes. So you're going to say that
Speaker 2: the same player that you're offering a ten million dollar
Speaker 2: contract to, oh yeah, it's gonna cost you an extra
Speaker 2: nine hundred thousand dollars to play in Massachusetts, where you
Speaker 2: know you won't have to pay any of that if
Speaker 2: you're playing in Texas or Tennessee or Florida, Mark my words,
Speaker 2: that is gonna that's gonna come home and hurt. These
Speaker 2: teams better continue to develop guys in the farm system
Speaker 2: like the Red Sox are doing, who get to play
Speaker 2: those first three or four years, you know, under a
Speaker 2: very limited contract. Brian, You're always welcome here, you know that.
Speaker 2: Thank you very much for listening tonight and joining the conversation.
Speaker 2: Final comment for you, Brian, and I also want to
Speaker 2: give Aidan a last quick comment. We'll take some more
Speaker 2: phone calls Aidan and I will, but Brian, what's your
Speaker 2: final word? And also I want to thank you.
Speaker 4: I'm a regular listener. It's a great show. And for
Speaker 4: those that are is in my campaign, please check out
Speaker 4: my website at Brian Shortsleeve dot com.
Speaker 2: Thank you all right, Brian, Thank you very much. Aidan.
Speaker 2: I want to continue our conversation with callers. I am
Speaker 2: concerned about this this report. I want to also give
Speaker 2: people an opportunity. I assumed this will be in newspapers
Speaker 2: tomorrow because I believe it's been released. Both of these
Speaker 2: reports have been released today. Have you talked tonight with
Speaker 2: either the Globe, of the Herald or any of the
Speaker 2: other newspapers around the carm Wall.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so the report will be released tomorrow. I've also
Speaker 3: talked with the Globe about it, so there should be
Speaker 3: a piece in the in the in the business section.
Speaker 2: But yeah, okay, so they may either be in tomorrow's
Speaker 2: paper or in Friday's paper. We'll take a quick break.
Speaker 2: My guest is Aiden Enwright. He's with the Pioneer Institute.
Speaker 2: We're talking about two studies that Pioneer has just released,
Speaker 2: which shows one that Massachusetts over the last five years
Speaker 2: has lost a lot of jobs and maybe those jobs
Speaker 2: are not coming back or coming back anytime soon. At
Speaker 2: a time, we're down about thirty thousand private sector jobs.
Speaker 2: We are we are probably up in public sector jobs,
Speaker 2: but down in private sector jobs. And also what is
Speaker 2: called the the growth uh the of the state product
Speaker 2: the GSP, as opposed that the GDP in Massachusetts is
Speaker 2: falling backwards. Its growth is slowing down, which is reflective
Speaker 2: of the loss of jobs. If you'd like to join
Speaker 2: the conversation, I got wide open lines six, one, seven, two, five,
Speaker 2: four ten, thirty, six one, seven, nine, three, one, ten thirty.
Speaker 2: I know numbers are tough, but numbers really are important
Speaker 2: because they have an impact. As Brian Shortsleeve said on
Speaker 2: families and families are leaving Massachusetts. That does not argue
Speaker 2: well for the future. Back with Aiden Enwright of the
Speaker 2: Pioneer Institute and your calls or questions or it's coming
Speaker 2: back right after.
Speaker 1: This Night Side with Dan Ray on Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2: My guess is, aiden En Wright, let's get back to
Speaker 2: the phone call. Let me go to Jim in the car. Jim,
Speaker 2: you were next on Night Side with aiden enright goright ahead, Jim.
Speaker 7: Hi, I just wanted to say I really enjoyed your
Speaker 7: conversation with.
Speaker 5: Gentlemen running for.
Speaker 7: The governor Republican nomination, and I would love to have
Speaker 7: Charlie Baker a like person orned Rodney like person as
Speaker 7: governor of the state of Massachusetts, because I think they
Speaker 7: would be great for the economy. But Charlie Baker did
Speaker 7: not run because he came out against the January sixth
Speaker 7: riots and against Trunt's denial of the election. And that
Speaker 7: is why we do not have Charlie Baker as the
Speaker 7: governor right now.
Speaker 2: And Charlie Baker ran twice, was elected by times, and
Speaker 2: he had a job offer for eleven million dollars from
Speaker 2: the NCAA. I don't think that, Charle. I think Charlie
Speaker 2: Baker felt that he had served as governor for two
Speaker 2: terms eight years uh, and he was going to move on. Jim.
Speaker 2: To be honest, with you. I I know that that
Speaker 2: Baker was not a Trump guy. I got that, and
Speaker 2: I don't think.
Speaker 7: That he did not. But I disagree. I mean, I
Speaker 7: he from reporting, I heard he did not run because
Speaker 7: he would not get the Republican nominations or Yeah, I gotta.
Speaker 2: Be honest with you. I think that the Massachusetts Republican Party,
Speaker 2: if they had had the opportunity, would have renominated Charlie Baker.
Speaker 7: That's the reporting.
Speaker 2: And I agree, Oh, fine, you know you you rely
Speaker 2: on your reporters. Feel free to rely on your reporters.
Speaker 2: I know Baker, I know him pretty well. And uh,
Speaker 2: and I'm pretty confident that that eleven million dollar contract,
Speaker 2: that annual contract for eleven million dollars was a lot
Speaker 2: more than he was making as governor of Massachusetts, unless
Speaker 2: you know, I think he had a right after having
Speaker 2: served two terms to take a big paycheck. I got
Speaker 2: to keep running. I'm not going to argue with the
Speaker 2: gym over whether or not charge.
Speaker 7: I agree one thing. On the economy though, with the
Speaker 7: funding that Trump is going to withhold from Harvard, it's
Speaker 7: going to make the four billion in bost income or
Speaker 7: high income jobs seemed like peanuts, and that was going
Speaker 7: for cancer research.
Speaker 2: Okay, well again, call me some night and we'll you
Speaker 2: and I can just trash Trump. That's not my purpose tonight. Okay,
Speaker 2: we can, you know, feel free to call me and
Speaker 2: and and we can engage in a Trump trashth on
Speaker 2: you and I thanks to appreciate the call. Okay, let's
Speaker 2: keep rolling. You're going to go to Christopher and Hero. Christopher.
Speaker 2: You got to be very quick. We got less than
Speaker 2: a minute left, Christopher, go right ahead.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I just uh, Dan just wanted to say, you know,
Speaker 5: first on caller, a long time listener, thank you. I'm
Speaker 5: I'm in my forties.
Speaker 2: I've been in the.
Speaker 5: I've been in the IT field for last eighteen years.
Speaker 5: Was working for a biotech firm and ended up subsequently
Speaker 5: being pushed out of the out of the company and
Speaker 5: you know, for a managed service provider that was coming
Speaker 5: in at a lot cheaper and with the way the
Speaker 5: economy is right now, I've been out of the IT
Speaker 5: field unfortunately for the last year, since since last April.
Speaker 5: And yeah, it's just I'm seeing, you know, colleagues of
Speaker 5: minor are also in the same boat. That's just it
Speaker 5: seems like the you know, especially the IT field, I
Speaker 5: think is over overly saturated. So I'm just not what
Speaker 5: what did you do?
Speaker 2: What did you do in it? Specifically? Christopher?
Speaker 5: So I was handling. I was an IT manager, So
Speaker 5: I was handling all of the infrastructure for the company
Speaker 5: that I was working for, or so everything from deploying
Speaker 5: of systems to managing users and.
Speaker 2: Real quickly here, what I'm going to do is I
Speaker 2: want to ask you to leave your phone number with Andrew. Sure,
Speaker 2: what sort of a salary are you looking for?
Speaker 5: I you know I was in the eighty to ninety range,
Speaker 5: was where I was at previously?
Speaker 2: And what's your education level?
Speaker 5: I have an associates in computer science and several several
Speaker 5: certifications with Microsoft.
Speaker 2: Leave leave your name. Leave your name and your phone number,
Speaker 2: daytime phone number with Andrew. And if there's anyone out
Speaker 2: there who would like to talk with you. You sound
Speaker 2: like a great guy, well qualified, and they want to
Speaker 2: call the station, we have your permission to pass your
Speaker 2: name on.
Speaker 5: Yeah, definitely fair enough.
Speaker 2: You talked to Andrew. Leave your phone number and your
Speaker 2: last name and a daytime phone number. Who knows, maybe
Speaker 2: we can help Christopher get back employed in the private
Speaker 2: You just don't know a and then Wright, thank you
Speaker 2: for your time. Those of you who are calling, we're
Speaker 2: a little late. We're going to go to a different topic,
Speaker 2: a different guest right after the ten o'clock news. Wish
Speaker 2: y'all called a little earlier. Aiden, please keep in touch.
Speaker 2: Love what Pioneer does, and I love what you do.
Speaker 2: And again, numbers are tough, but you do a great
Speaker 2: job and I appreciate you taking the time tonight.
Speaker 3: Aidan, Okay, Yeah, thanks for having me.
Speaker 4: Dan.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, we'll have you back when we get back on
Speaker 2: talk with a Polster Suffolk poster Dave Paley Logus about
Speaker 2: a poll that has shown us shown to us that
Speaker 2: again Donald Trump is not particularly well liked in New
Speaker 2: England voters New Hampshire specifically Massachusetts and Rhode Island. But
Speaker 2: the Democrats aren't taking advantage of that situation. So I'm
Speaker 2: hoping that Jim in the car is paying attention, particularly
Speaker 2: to my guests, to coming up. Dave Paleologus