Massachusetts Miracle

The term "Massachusetts Miracle" refers to a period of economic growth in the state of Massachusetts during most of the 1980s. Previous to this, the state had been hit hard by deindustrialization and resulting unemployment. The unemployment rate fell from more than 12% in 1975 to less than 3%, which was accompanied by tax reductions and a drastic increase in personal income.^[1]

The growth was heavily centered in high-tech industry and financial services, within Boston and in its suburbs along Route 128. The expansion of the high tech industry along Route 128 has led to the term "128" meaning more than just the road itself, but the technology area as a whole, much like Silicon Valley. Some notable companies at the time of the Miracle were Digital Equipment Corporation, Data General, Wang Laboratories, Prime Computer, Lotus Development Corporation and Apollo Computer.^[2]

In the early 1990s, Massachusetts, like most of the Northeast, was much more severely affected by the early 1990s recession than the country as a whole, with the unemployment rate nearly reaching 9% by the Summer of 1992. However, Massachusetts recovered from the recession faster than the rest of the Northeast, helped by the nationwide tech boom of the 1990s, and by the end of the decade the unemployment rate once again fell below 3%.

Michael Dukakis was Governor of Massachusetts during most of this time and attempted to take credit for the "Miracle" during his campaign for United States President in 1988.^[3]

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