Gov. Maura Healey promoted a rating final week that claimed Massachusetts had “the best state economy” in america.
The primary-term Democrat, who’s up for reelection subsequent 12 months, touted the rating as a “testament to the incredible businesses, universities, and research institutions that drive our innovation economy and to the top-notch talent that continues to choose Massachusetts as the place to grow their careers and their futures.”
However the actuality of residents’ lived experiences and the reliability of the rating is extra sophisticated, together with the truth that WalletHub doesn’t assure the accuracy of the knowledge it publishes.
The rating — which was the second from WalletHub that the governor promoted final month — mentioned it in contrast the 50 states and the District of Columbia throughout 28 “key indicators of economic performance and strength.”
After considering these metrics, it gave every state a complete rating, which positioned Massachusetts on prime by a slim margin.
In truth, Massachusetts solely topped the nation in a single sub-ranking, “innovation potential,” and got here in sixth for “economic activity” and seventeenth for “economic health.”
Northeastern College Distinguished Professor of Advertising and marketing Koen Pauwels mentioned rankings of any sort — whether or not from WalletHub or elsewhere — are “never perfect,” however absent any higher various, it may very well be one solution to examine totally different states.
Pauwels did query how WalletHub weighed every metric.
“The only thing where we score high is innovation potential rank, and that, of course, has to do with how educated our workforce is,” he mentioned. “You could say, ‘hey, innovation potential, that’s way more subjective. I think they should look more at economic activity and health.’ And of course, if you weigh these things more, then Massachusetts is not number one.”
Healey additionally promoted a rating from WalletHub that scored Massachusetts as the perfect state for working mothers. The rating claimed the Bay State is the perfect for “child care” and “work-life balance,” however sixth for “professional opportunities.”
By its personal admission, WalletHub doesn’t “guarantee the accuracy of information.”
The corporate mentioned it neither presents monetary services neither is the entrance for a particular issuing establishment or monetary skilled. As a substitute, WalletHub is an unbiased service that “strives to provide each and every customer with the information they need to make the best financial decisions and save money.”
“Another way to think of WalletHub is as a personal finance search engine/social network, and, in the same way that search engines do not guarantee the accuracy of search results, we do not guarantee the accuracy of the information presented through our website,” the corporate mentioned on its web site.
Nonetheless, WalletHub mentioned it’s “not in our interest to show information about products and services that is out-of-date or in error.”
A spokesperson for Healey declined to remark.
Native polls have constantly proven that the financial system and affordability of Massachusetts are among the many prime points on residents’ minds forward of the 2026 statewide election. Healey has mentioned she plans to run for reelection, and two Republicans have jumped into the race to problem her.
Pauwels mentioned he was “positively surprised” by the methodology of the WalletHub rating on the perfect and worst state economies.
“They used specific metrics from other organizations that actually have pretty good, robust methodologies to kind of look at the economy and so forth,” he mentioned. “I was actually positively surprised by how well they try to select the best other external agency to measure something, and basically … WalletHub is mostly an aggregation of what other more specialized firms do.”
– Chris Van Buskirk
Former Boston police commissioner wades into Metropolis Council race…
An at-large council challenger’s marketing campaign is getting a lift from former Boston police commissioner William Gross.
Gross, head of BPD from August 2018 to January 2021, endorsed Will Onuoha for one of many 4 at-large seats on the Boston Metropolis Council final week.
“Boston needs elected leaders, with the extensive experience and right vision for its future, like Will Onuoha,” Gross mentioned in an announcement. “From running city departments to providing common-sense solutions to Boston’s greatest challenges, Will is the right person to represent every neighborhood as city councilor at-large.”
Onuoha labored for 4 earlier mayoral administrations, Tom Menino, Marty Walsh, Kim Janey, and Michelle Wu, over a 15-year span at Metropolis Corridor.
At the moment, he works as assistant common counsel and director of well being and security for the Boston Water and Sewer Fee.
Onuoha is a part of a crowded subject for this 12 months’s at-large race, which incorporates all 4 incumbents — Ruthzee Louijeune, Julia Mejia, Erin Murphy, and Henry Santana — operating for reelection.
The race additionally incorporates a comeback bid from former Councilor Frank Baker, who selected to not search reelection two years in the past. Baker spent 12 years on the Council representing Dorchester-centric District 3, and is operating citywide for the primary time this 12 months.
Former Mayor Marty Walsh has not endorsed within the race, however contributed $1,000 to Baker’s marketing campaign final month, per the Workplace of Marketing campaign and Political Finance.
Additionally operating is Alexandra Valdez from the Wu administration. Valdez is town’s director of cultural affairs.
Ten candidates have certified to this point for the autumn poll, with the others being Yves Jean, Marvin Mathelier, and Rachel Miselman.
Barring withdrawals, the race will function a preliminary election in September that may whittle the sphere right down to eight candidates for the final election.
– Gayla Cawley
