Research, Development and Affordability in New Jersey

Gordon MacInnes, Former President, New Jersey Policy Perspective, explains how New Jersey compares to competing states when it comes to research, development and affordability. He also talks about how President Trump has impacted the tone and tenor of political discourse in the nation.

2/2/19 #234

Excerpt:

"Oh we're laughing because we were old friends... well I'm old. He's not. He's Gordon MacInnes, and he's President, New Jersey Policy Perspective. Good to see my friend. Nice to see you Steve. Now you're a former state senator, you formerly headed up public broadcasting in the state of New Jersey, and you've done a whole bunch of other things. Now why, when you're at the top of your game, are you deciding to step down from this role? Well the world has changed, number one. So I like to deal with the people not just at the top who are making the decisions in Jersey, but the people who work for them. And I found that the people who work with me have very good relations with the staff - the senior staffs in the legislature and in the executive branch, that's important for the work that we do. Describe New Jersey Policy Perspective. What is it and why does it matter? As we put up the website Gordon. Okay. Well it matters because this is a, if you will, a think and do tank. It's... yeah we're... we put out reports... Not just think? Not just think. We put out reports. They're footnoted. They have graphics. But we're there to try and influence what happens in New Jersey, particularly when it comes to policy making, and we have a point of view that we take every time, which is just to take a progressive point of view. To say New Jersey has got problems, here's the problem, it needs to answer those problems, and here's what it will take. Frequently it involves something that most political figures do not want to hear about. For example? Well New Jersey is now at the bottom of the list of states in terms of its credit rating, it's at the bottom of the list in terms of its capacity to deal with investment in its assets. I mean we've got a great place among the 50 states. Location is one of them. But if we do not maintain the opportunities for affordable higher education, if we can't put New Jersey Transit back to work on a regular schedule, if we cannot invest in those things which make us a particularly strong state and attract people who are well educated, who want to get good jobs, who need to get access to New York and Philadelphia, our future is grim. And that's where we are right now. But Gordon, no one's gonna disagree with the conceptual aspects of what you just said. By the way, we're speaking with Gordon MacInnes, president, New Jersey Policy Perspective, former state..."