3.1 Maintaining the Region’s Competitive Edge

Metro Boston’s reputation as an exporter of ideas rests on its skilled workforce, world-class educational and research institutions and innovative nonprofit sector.  Boston regularly spawns and exports expertise across the world, from groundbreaking hardware and software to community-based health care and youth programs to maintain its edge in the increasingly competitive global economy, however, the region must constantly renew its innovative capacity, grow and retain its pool of educated and high skilled workers and hold down the cost of living and doing business

 Moreover, Metro Boston and the nation are experiencing setbacks in the current downturn relative to global competitors such as India, China and South Korea. With the implosion of the housing market due to overleveraged sub-prime lending and the sudden loss in value of mortgage-backed US securities in the third quarter of 2008 turned what had begun in 2007 as a mild recession into the deepest global recession since the Great Depression. The “Great Recession,” has revealed regional vulnerabilities in key economic sectors such as finance, housing and manufacturing, with unemployment surpassing nearing 10% in mid 2009. Tightened credit and continuing job loss despite the positive impact of federal stimulus funds have deepened disparities while creating a much more challenging environment for small businesses, manufacturing, construction, print media and emerging sectors such as the Green Economy—a classic vicious cycle.