[Vision2020] The People's Republic of Massachusetts doesn't do too badly

[Nicholas Gier]

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2012/05/massachusetts_is_the_best_state_in_the_union_.single.html



*Don’t Mess with Massachusetts*

*It may be everyone’s punching bag, but it’s time to face facts: The Bay
State is best.*

By Mark Vanhoenacker<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.slate.com/authors.mark_vanhoenacker.html>|Posted
Monday, May 14, 2012, at 6:00 AM ET

[image: Illustration by Robert Neubecker]

Illustration by Robert Neubecker

*Check out our Magnum Photos gallery on
Boston.<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://todayspictures.slate.com/20120509/>
*

Massachusetts, in today’s political culture, is more epithet than state.
The People’s Republic, Taxachusetts, “Sweden”—this is America’s
arugula-munching, maple syrup-swigging, receding-ponytail hippy uncle,
exiled to its cold, lonely corner of American geography by Sunbelt
population growth and a rightward-leaning national discourse. That “Spirit
of America” license plate doth protest too much. For much of the country,
Massachusetts, if not actually un-American, is the suspicious redoubt of
the American left.

As a native, I’m willing to take it on the chin for the state’s crimes
against the republic:  certain unfortunate regional accents, the term *
wicked*, and that image of Michael Dukakis in a
tank<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2008/01/17/the-photo-op-that-tanked>
.
For the state’s affection for happy-clappy bumper stickers (“no one is free
when others are oppressed”) and the drivers my brother calls “Massholes”—I
apologize.

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Still, all the Bay State-baiting can get depressing. Especially in the
recent primary season, as Mitt Romney, pummeled by charges of
“Massachusetts moderate,” has run far* *from the state he once governed. *Et
tu*, Mitt?

On the brighter side, though, Gov. Romney’s candidacy is an opportunity to
take a closer look at the state that dare not speak its name. Through all
the red mist and flying blue fur this election year, it’s worth reminding
voters of a truth Romney probably won’t be emphasizing: The nation’s
favorite punching bag is an exceptionally successful state.

Let’s compare Massachusetts to its peers on three basic measures of
success: education, social well-being, and economic strength. Some
Americans believe good results on these metrics are the goals of
responsible government, and others believe they’re the happy consequences
of free markets. But however we get there, these are desirable outcomes for
all Americans.

First up is education, the foundation of America’s meritocratic values and
the key to whatever success the country will find in a globalized,
knowledge-based economy. Massachusetts is renowned for its higher-education
institutions. Less well known, though, is that the home of the original Tea
Party also has the best schools in the country. On the most basic measures
of educational achievement—fourth- and eighth-grade math and reading
skills<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/statecomparisons/>—Massachusetts
tops the nation.

*Education Week*’s Quality Counts 2012 report expands on this success. On
their overall index<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.edweek.org/ew/qc/2012/16src.h31.html?intc=EW-QC12-CTR>,
Massachusetts ranks second, to Maryland. But on two of the index’s most
important measures of results—a lifetime educational Chance for
Success<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/01/12/16sources.h31.html%23chance>
index,
and a K-12 Achievement<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/01/12/16sources.h31.html%23achievement>
index
that bundles metrics such as test results, year-on-year improvement, and
the gap between poor and wealthier kids (perhaps the truest test of our
fabled meritocracy)—the Bay State again leads the nation.

And most of the world. According to a 2011 Harvard
study<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.hks.harvard.edu/pepg/PDF/Papers/PEPG11-03_GloballyChallenged.pdf>,
while reading proficiency in Mississippi is comparable to Russia or
Bulgaria, Massachusetts performs more like Singapore, Japan, or South
Korea. Often better: Massachusetts students rank *fifth* in the world in
reading, lapping Singapore and Japan, and needless to say, every state in
the union. In math, Massachusetts slots in a global ninth, ahead of Japan
and Germany. (Some international educational studies rank Shanghai and Hong
Kong as separate countries; if this wasn’t done, Massachusetts would likely
rank two places higher.)

What about social well-being? Above all, we want kids to have a healthy
start in life. According to the Kaiser Family
Foundation<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.statehealthfacts.org/>,
Massachusetts has the nation’s highest level of first-trimester prenatal
care<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.statehealthfacts.org/comparetable.jsp?typ=2%26ind=44%26cat=2%26sub=12%26sortc=1%26o=a>,
and the third-lowest infant
mortality<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.statehealthfacts.org/comparetable.jsp?ind=47%26cat=2%26sub=13%26yr=89%26typ=3%26sort=a%26o=a%26sortc=1>
rate
(Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Missouri are about 50 percent higher). It also
has the second-highest rate of child access to both medical and dental
care<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.statehealthfacts.org/comparetable.jsp?ind=584%26cat=2%26sub=14%26yr=62%26typ=2%26sort=a%26o=a%26sortc=1>,
the nation’s lowest child
mortality<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.statehealthfacts.org/comparetable.jsp?ind=61%26cat=2%26sub=18%26yr=63%26typ=3%26sort=a%26o=a%26sortc=1>
rate,
and the lowest teen
death<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.statehealthfacts.org/comparetable.jsp?yr=63%26typ=3%26ind=62%26cat=2%26sub=19%26sortc=1%26o=a>
rate.

It goes without saying that Massachusetts has the lowest percentage of
uninsured
residents<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.statehealthfacts.org/comparetable.jsp?typ=2%26ind=125%26cat=3%26sub=39%26sortc=6%26o=a>—5
percent (Thanks Mitt! Mitt? You there, Mitt?), compared to 16 percent
nationally, and a whopping 25 percent in Texas. On life
expectancy<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.statehealthfacts.org/comparetable.jsp?ind=784%26cat=2%26sub=206%26yr=18%26typ=1>,
Massachusetts ties for sixth-highest, about five years longer than the
worst-performing states. In another political universe far, far away, you
might describe a place like this as pro-life.

A few other metrics of social well-being: The Bay State has the
second-lowest teen
birth<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.statehealthfacts.org/comparetable.jsp?typ=3%26ind=37%26cat=2%26sub=11%26sortc=1%26o=a>
rate,
the fourth-lowest
suicide<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.statehealthfacts.org/comparetable.jsp?ind=667%26cat=2%26sub=155%26yr=63%26typ=3%26o=a%26sortc=1>
rate,
and the lowest traffic
fatality<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/ranks/rank39.html>
rate.
The birthplace of Dunkin’ Donuts has the sixth-lowest
obesity<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.statehealthfacts.org/comparetable.jsp?typ=2%26ind=89%26cat=2%26sub=26%26sortc=1%26o=a>
rate.
And depending on the source, the first state to legalize gay marriage has
either the lowest<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0133.pdf>
or
one of the very
lowest<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/acs-13.pdf>
divorce
rates in the country.

Finally, let’s take a purely dollars-and-cents look at Massachusetts. No
matter where you start on the political spectrum, this is the most
important question, because many Americans believe we must choose between
social investments and a competitive economy. So what economic sacrifices
is Massachusetts making to achieve such extraordinary educational and
social outcomes?

None, apparently. Massachusetts has the second-highest per capita personal
income<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/regional/spi/2012/pdf/spi0312.pdf>
among
the states. Unemployment<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm>
in
March was 6.5 percent, well below the national 8.2 percent. Itsstate
per-capita GDP<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_GDP>
ranks
sixth-highest. Its median household
income<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/data/historical/household/2010/H08_2010.xls>
(a
measure of widely-distributed income) is fifth.

Massachusetts is looking particularly sharp when it comes to the
globalized, tech-driven economy on which America’s superpower standing
hinges. According to a 2011
report<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://web27.streamhoster.com/mtc/index_2011.pdf>,
Massachusetts has the highest per-capita venture capital, patents, and
technology licensing of 10 leading high-tech states. Worker productivity in
Massachusetts (GDP per employed person) is the third-highest in the world.
And research and development spending as a share of GDP in Massachusetts is
higher than any country anywhere.

Massachusetts is as green as it is high-tech, and recently displaced
California as the nation’smost energy-efficient
state<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.aceee.org/press/2011/10/aceee-massachusetts-overtakes-califo>.
No surprise, then, that the Kauffman Foundation put Massachusetts at the
top of its New Economy
Index<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.kauffman.org/research-and-policy/snei-interactive.aspx>.
More surprising, perhaps, is CNBC’s
index<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.cnbc.com/id/41666602>of
America’s top states for business. This is a calculus so ruthlessly focused
on corporate competitiveness that it marked states *down* for high union
membership. Massachusetts came in sixth. Not bad for the People’s Republic.

All this isn’t to suggest that the Bay State doesn’t have problems. While
the state is among the lowest for property crime, it ranks considerably
worse on violent
crime<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0308.pdf>
*.* On a recent
corruptionindex<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.stateintegrity.org/your_state>,
it ranked 13th—nice, but not A-list. Its unemployment figure handily beats
the national number, but 14 states do better. And, what you’ve all been
wondering about: Massachusetts has high
taxes<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxdata/show/336.html>,
though perhaps not as lofty as reputed. It ranks 11th-highest (and at 10
percent, only barely above the national average of 9.8 percent).

It’s also worth noting that there are many ways to cut the statistical
cake. Massachusetts’ second-lowest teen birth rate, for example, may
reflect a higher abortion
rate<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0103.pdf>
(though
one that’s still below the national figure). The low traffic deaths may be
due to the molasses<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/historical/a/molasses_flood.htm>-like
flow of traffic on the state’s notorious roadways. And the marvelously low
divorce rate is paired with a below-average
marriage<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.slate.com/articles/life/map_of_the_week/2012/05/marriage_rates_nevada_and_hawaii_have_the_highest_marriage_rates_in_the_u_s_.html>
 rate.

The most compelling retort, though, is that Massachusetts is simply a rich
state, so of course it has good schools and health care. To address this, I
contacted Kristen Lewis, co-director of Measure of America, a project of
the Social Science Research Council. Their American Human Development
Index<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.measureofamerica.org/human-development/>
weaves
health, education, and income metrics into a quick summary of a state’s
well-being. Connecticut ranks first and Massachusetts second. (Anyone
interested in exploring the state of their state will love these
beautiful interactive
maps<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.measureofamerica.org/maps/>
.)

So, what of the charge that good outcomes result from high incomes? Lewis
says “you might turn the question on its head” and ask, instead, why is
Massachusetts so rich? “Massachusetts and others at top of the index tend
to make significant public and private investments in the ingredients of
well-being,” explains Lewis. Ultimately, these investments pay off both
socially and economically. She points out that Maryland is third on Measure of
America<https://mail.uidaho.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://measureofamerica.org/>’s
income index, but 33rd in life expectancy. Virginia comes in 6th on income
(right behind Massachusetts), but 11th on education, and 25th on health.

So high income is no guarantee of good social outcomes and strong
investments in people clearly haven’t punished one of our wealthiest and
most globally competitive state economies. In fact, if America wants to be
a healthy, smart, rich, globalized, high-tech powerhouse, we arguably have
no better model than Massachusetts.

For many, a steady drizzle of mockery for the state and its “moderates” is
the only response to that uncomfortable truth. Still, it’s hard not to
dream of a presidential campaign in which a former governor would run *on*,
not from, his associations with Massachusetts. Dukakis, of course, ran on a
“Massachusetts Miracle.” But Gov. Romney is already too far from home for
that, and probably knows better than to try.
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