The Globe has a good story on all the different ways the Trump administration’s actions are going to hit the Massachusetts economy hard. I particularly liked the following quote from Jeff Bussgang, a general partner at Flybridge Capital, a Boston VC firm: “The Commonwealth’s business model is at risk.” … I know what Jeff is talking about. But his quote still got me to thinking: Is there such a thing as a state business model, in terms of actually planning out a specific strategy for an economy? And can a state business model be easily exchanged for another one? Answers to both: Of course not. We don’t live in command economy. There are no state Five Year Plans. There was never any government or secret capitalist cabal that decided, for instance, to wipe out Digital Equipment and Wang in favor of Biogen and Sanofi etc. Or wiping out our once mighty big local banks, like Bank of Boston, Shawmut and Fleet, in favor of BofA, TD Bank, Citizens, etc. It all just sort happened, for good and bad.

But here’s the thing: government may be capable of inflicting great economic harm on a region (such as Boston’s destruction of the old West End, suburban towns’ opposition to badly needed new housing, or Trump 2.0’s gutting of the NIH) yet it can greatly help an economy by creating a sound business environment, via wise tax, regulatory, education and infrastructure policies, and state leaders better start thinking along these lines right now. Because we’re going to need wise and better business policies if Trump 2.0 prevails, as the Globe piece makes abundantly and depressingly clear.