Phineas Baxandall
Policy Director
Phineas Baxandall is the Policy Director at the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center. His past research at MassBudget focused on transportation, tax policy, and unemployment.
Before joining MassBudget, Phineas directed the Transportation and Tax & Budget programs for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group and its network of 30 state affiliate organizations.
Prior to his work with U.S. PIRG, Phineas was Assistant Director at the Taubman Center for State and Local Government and the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He was a teaching fellow for eight years at Harvard’s Committee for Degrees in Social Studies, where he lectured on social policy and political economy. He has published on a variety of topics in political economy and public policy, and his 2004 book, Constructing Unemployment, was recently republished by Routledge press.
Phineas earned a Ph.D. from MIT in Political Science and a B.A. from Wesleyan University.
Recent
Earth Day is a Time to Consider Better Responses to High Gas Prices: Free Public Transit and Other Ideas
Higher gas prices are causing anxiety for many and are eating away at the meager incomes of low- and moderate-income families. Politicians are promoting a number of ideas to provide consumers with some relief. A very popular idea—a gas tax holiday—is a bad idea.
The Three E’s: Greater Transportation Funding Can Improve the Economy, Equity, and Environment
New sustaining revenue is needed for Massachusetts’ transportation systems, and no source of new funding is better scaled to meet the size of underinvestment than the Fair Share Amendment.
Testimony to end tax subsidies for purchasing private jets and other aircraft
To the Joint Committee on Revenue December 14, 2021 RE: Testimony in support of An Act Relevant to the Repeal of the Sales Tax Exemption …
