WHERE'S GENERAL PINOCHET WHEN YOU NEED HIM:

Reform jobless insurance (Christopher Anderson and Jim Stergios, February 22, 2011 , Boston Globe)

[B]y reforming one program, Massachusetts could reap 10,000 new jobs, add $3.8 billion in wages, increase economic output by $7.5 billion, and take in $30 million of additional tax revenue over the next decade, according to the economic consulting firm IHS Global Insight. That program is unemployment insurance, and the Commonwealth’s current version is the costliest in the nation. Massachusetts’ unemployment insurance program is funded entirely by a tax on employers, who are willing to pay a premium to gain access to the Commonwealth’s skilled workforce, its world-class universities, and innovative culture.

But employers need a stable, predictable cost structure to create jobs. When it comes to unemployment insurance, the Tax Foundation’s 2011 study of state business tax climates ranks Massachusetts 49th. At $638 per job, the Commonwealth’s unemployment insurance tax burden is twice the national average.

Make it self-insurance.

Posted by Orrin Judd at February 23, 2011 7:05 AM