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Going forward…
Visualization from NYT
Seems the thoughts of the nation have turned forward to the future after a clear change in the electorate. The visualization to the left shows how a perfect storm moved the voting of the country more democratic than 2004.
I had the pleasure of attending a talk by mayor Bob Duffy at President Destler’s Liberty Hill home EARLY Wednesday morning. The President and I shared a quick word admiring how impressive it is that a country can turn around nimbly and try a different direction. This is certainly impressive to the rest of the world. Take for example, Lab for Social Computing board member, Joichi Ito’s remarks from the Washington Post. (As an aside, Bob Duffy, my colleague Neil Hair and I generally keep our politics close to the vest)
For those of us in Rochester, there is a lot to improve. We have more crime than we should. We have an uneven track record with large scale public projects…AND the Mayor repeated a statistic that is particularly challenging: New York State ranks 49th (only NJ is worse) in our Tax Climate for Business.
As Business educators (and our many stakeholders), we should begin to unravel how to move that statistic. The group explains their approach thus:
“Good state tax systems levy low, flat rates on the broadest bases possible, and they treat all taxpayers the same. Variation in the tax treatment of different industries favors one economic activity or decision over another. The more riddled a tax system is with politically motivated preferences the less likely it is that business decisions will be made in response to market forces. The SBTCI rewards those states that apply these principles in five important areas of taxation: major business taxes, individual income taxes, sales taxes, unemployment insurance taxes and property taxes.”
At a time of great change, we have the flexibility to do novel things. Let’s come up with something new that moves us up. Who’s in?
