ssti features

Twelve states have gubernatorial races in this year’s elections. After Indiana Gov. Mike Pence was recruited for the vice presidential ballot, Indiana voters have current Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb on the ballot as the Republican candidate for governor. Some states have incumbent governors seeking re-election, including Montana, North Carolina, Oregon, Utah and Washington. Others have term-limited governors and are thus seeing new faces on the ballot, including Delaware, Missouri and West Virginia The remaining states have open races, including Indiana, New Hampshire, North Dakota and Vermont. SSTI provides an overview of the candidates and their economic development and education stances:

In Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game — a New York Times bestseller by Michael Lewis from 2003 – the author focuses on the successful approach of Major League Baseball’s (MLB) Oakland Athletics and its general manager Billy Beane’s use of an analytical, evidence-based, sabermetric approach to assemble a competitive baseball team. Conventional wisdom of the time focused on traditional scouting and non-advanced statistics. While Beane and the Athletics were early-movers in the infusing of innovation, science, and technology into the industry of sports, others have rapidly caught up and are making large investments in companies and partnerships. In 2014, venture funding for sports tech startups reached almost $1 billion – an increase of 30 percent from 2012, according to Tech Crunch.

Part three of a 3-part series: Part one, Part two

Part two of a 3-part series: Part one, Part three

Part one of a three part series: Part two, Part three

Under the assumption that regulations place an unnecessary strain on the innovative free-market companies that create the jobs and industries needed to drive the economy, liberalization is oftentimes the go-to policy prescription for states or countries hoping to spur innovation. Although proponents of deregulation cite incidents of government overreach and inefficiency as evidence of the state suppressing the market’s innovativeness, the government does not always hinder innovation, according to articles featured in the January 2015 issue of Foreign Affairs. By making the strategic investments the private sector is often unwilling to make, the state can play a major role in providing the necessary infrastructure needed for prosperity generating innovation.