Many community development challenges are intractable because it’s hard to convene all the relevant stakeholders to work on real solutions with real consequences. Now a few organizations are trying out multiplayer scenarios as a way to give serious thought to opposing views. Scenarios feel...

In December 1995, Massachusetts attorney general Scott Harshbarger filed a civil suit against the tobacco industry. The Commonwealth’s lawsuit charged that the tobacco industry had conducted research into the addictive properties of nicotine and used this research to willfully manipulate the...

With their ability to attract socially conscious investors to a community bank and provide tax deductions, nonprofits could become increasingly pivotal in making financial services available to low- and moderate-income communities.

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...

In March 2002, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released revised state and regional employment data based on the 2001 benchmark, affecting data for 2000 and 2001. Contrary to the employment boost shown in last year's revisions, the 2002 revisions increased New England's measured...