Mid-sized companies--those with annual sales between $10 million and $250 million--produce a significant percentage of the nation's output; thus, any conditions impeding their performance should concern public policymakers. One such condition may be insufficient access to short-term credit at...

Economists devoted little attention to differences across banks in operational efficiency until about 15 years ago, when banks began to fail with increasing frequency. Some economists attributed the rising failure rate in part to intensified competitive pressures generated by deregulation and...

The 50 states differ sharply in the scope of public services their state and local governments must deliver and in the costs of providing them. The governments of many states, through no fault of their own, must work relatively hard to provide the services needed by those who reside, work,...

In recent years, a growing number of scholars and policymakers have concluded that the federal government has become too large and powerful, intruding into affairs better handled by states and municipalities. Based on this premise, they have argued for a reduction in federal aid, the conversion...

Are the losses recently incurred by New England’s banking industry symptomatic of chronic excess capacity that will depress the industry’s profitability even after the region’s economy recovers from its current recession? Or can the industry restore its profitability by ridding itself of...

Comparisons among state unemployment insurance systems can be misleading. Frequently quoted indicators of the generosity of their benefits, competitiveness, and adherence to the experience-rating principal are influenced by states' relative economic conditions, thereby obscuring underlying...

The degree to which mid-sized firms--the "middle market"- depend on large regional banks for short-term credit is an issue particularly relevant to New England. If this dependence is heavy, then the recent consolidation among the region’s large bank holding companies could be forcing its...

New England relies less on user charges for its state and local revenues than any other region of the country. As a result, some policymakers maintain that increases in user charges would correct an "imbalance" in the region’s revenue mix. However, the national mix of state and local revenues...