Business and Economy

Two hallmarks of Republican legislative leadership these past couple of sessions have been a commitment to small government and the use of deep cuts to state government to bridge budget gaps.

Recently,

Looking at media rankings of companies–“Most Innovative,” “Fastest-Growing,” or other roundups of various firms–we aren’t often surprised.  Take the magazine Fast Company.  For this month’s issue, they’ve listed “The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies.”  Dominating the Top 4 are the perennial occupants of the corporate Cool Kids’ Table: Apple,

As has been the case with all of Apple's product unveilings, there is a shroud of secrecy surrounding today's impending announcement.

Today, Apple has invited media to the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco for a 1 p.m. ET. event. The only clue provided by Apple was a typically cryptic invitation with a picture of an iPad and a few words: "We have something you really have to see. And touch."

We have two pieces of economic news this morning:

-- First the Labor Department announced that while American workers were more productive at the end of last year, the gains in productivity slowed. The AP reports that could "signal that companies are ready to hire more workers."

The AP adds:

We’re all about cool maps at StateImpact, and we just couldn’t resist sharing this one on the changing face of child and senior poverty over the past 30 years.  Demographer Kenneth Johnson at the Carsey Institute recently crunched some 2010 Census data, and working with a team at

First of all, if you haven’t read

The New Hampshire Senate is considering a bill aimed at reducing the so-called  "skills gap". The bill would offer tax credits to businesses that partnered with the community college system to create workforce training programs.

Recently, the Obama Administration announced plans to change Labor Department rules so that home care workers–personal care aides and home health aides–are guaranteed federal minimum wage and overtime pay.