Nothing that has been tried by the federal or state governments has produced any serious upward move by the Ocean State’s economy in the last five years. Not stimulus, not quantitative easing, not extended unemployment benefits. more

To best fix our economy, Rhode Island needs tax and fiscal stability. In far too many cases, Rhode Island shoots itself in the economic foot due to poorly considered lawmaking and posturing regarding tax policy within our General Assembly. more

Cape Wind Associates plans to base its wind farm operations in Falmouth, Mass., reported the Boston Business Journal. more

Treasuries rose for a fourth day as global equities slumped after Japanese trade figures fell short of economists’ forecasts, reinforcing concern that Europe’s debt crisis and a slowdown in China are damping global growth. more

PROVIDENCE – Calling for a system that acts as a “dynamic catalyst for new ideas,” a group of economic-development and public-policy officials want an aggressive overhaul of Rhode Island’s infrastructure that would eliminate the R.I. Economic Development Corporation. more

The Rhode Island Current Economic Indicator for the second quarter of 2012 grew 0.4 percent, indicating that the Ocean State’s economic growth has slowed significantly in the first half of 2012, according to a report by Bryant University and the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council. more

Retail sales in the U.S. rose more than forecast in July as consumer spending rebounded at department stores, auto dealers and electronics outlets, easing some concern the biggest part of the economy was foundering. more

Downcity’s Westminster Street is a virtual smorgasbord of boutique shops with unique clothing, craft, and coffee shops lining a path from Empire Street to near Kennedy Plaza. more

One of the most important goals that former R.I. Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Keith W. Stokes set when he took the job in early 2010 was the need to measure the results that the state’s various economic-development programs were producing. The lack of any such controls was exposed by a two-part series in Providence Business News in June 2010 that documented how little the state knew about the companies it had supported through the federally funded Small Business Loan Fund and its related microloan fund. Despite federal reporting requirements, the state had no idea how many jobs the recipient companies currently had. In addition, the failure rate of the loans was double that of similar commercial loans made by banks. more

The recent event hosted by Rep. James R. Langevin, D-R.I., and the Rhode Island Small Business Development Center on June 25 at the Johnson & Wales University Culinary Arts Museum to help small businesses was an excellent effort to highlight and spur the development of new, innovative business ideas. more