This report considers the New England states' past preparedness for revenue downturns caused by business cycle fluctuations and assesses policy actions that could promote greater fiscal stability in the future. During the recessions in 2001 and in 2007-2009, state governments experienced an...

As part of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston's commitment to supporting efforts to revitalize the economy of Springfield, Massachusetts, this paper explores the causes of and potential remedies for the city's low resident employment rates. When compared to the state as a whole and to other...

This article provides an unofficial summary of the findings and recommendations of the Panel on Research and Development Priorities for the U.S. Census Bureau’s State and Local Government Statistics Program. The panel was convened by the Committee on National Statistics of the National...

The authors provide a review of the literature on U.S. central city growth and distress during the second half of the twentieth century. The literature reveals that city growth tended to be higher in metropolitan areas with favorable weather, higher growth, and greater human capital, whereas...

Unless new policies offset the effects of existing demographic and educational patterns, improvements in labor quality are likely to contribute less to economic growth in the United States in the coming two decades than has been the case since the 1960s. The key reasons for this projection are...

When the term "knowledge-based economy" first entered popular discussion - sometime around the early 1980s - the focus was exclusively on scientific, technological, and business leadership. Only gradually did our society come to appreciate the pervasiveness of the knowledge-based economy. It...

This report considers the New England states' past preparedness for revenue downturns caused by business cycle fluctuations and assesses policy actions that could promote greater fiscal stability in the future

One of the most pressing challenges for Springfield is increasing the labor force participation and employment rates of its residents. The city’s labor force participation rate is extremely low even when compared with other older industrial cities in the region. In Springfield’s Latino...