Watch this
This is going to be one of my shortest posts, although it might take the most of your time. Its worth it. Here is the link to a video of a session at the recent Urban Land Institute conference. The session’s title is You get what you pay for. ULI describes the session this way: […]
Lou’s Alma College commencement speech
Lou delivered the commencement address to the 2014 graduates of Alma College. The speech focused on the job market the graduates are likely to face over the course of a forty year career. Making the case that the four year degree the graduates have earned is the most reliable path to a good paying career. […]
The futility of resisting new realities
Policy makers on a bi-partisan basis continue to try to recreate the economy of the past. Lets start with the basic facts from our latest report: The New Path to Prosperity: Lessons for Michigan From Two Decades of Economic Change. The chart below summarizes job growth in America from 1990 – 2011. As you can […]
College attainment and prosperity
At Michigan Future our goal for the state is high prosperity. A place, once again, with a broad middle class. A status we enjoyed for most of the 20th Century. But now have lost. Prosperity is best measured by per capita income. What we have found is that with the exception of a few states […]
On the wrong track: Michigan education policy
Two new reports make clear again that Michigan is on the wrong track when it comes to education policy. Both k-12 and higher education. Given the increased alignment between education attainment and state economic prosperity, getting education policy right should be an economic growth priority. As reported by DBusiness a new study from Demos ranks […]
43rd and falling?
As we explored in my last post on the best measure of employment––the proportion of those 16 and older with a job–-in 2013 Michigan ranked 43rd. Clearly not something to celebrate. To make matters worse there is a good chance that things will get worse, not better. Take for example the future job growth projections […]
Oh boy we are 43rd
Listening to the press, Lansing elected officials and Michigan business leaders one gets the sense that Michigan has one of––if not the––best state economy. Yes Michigan’s economy is better than it was in the depth of the Great Recession in 2009. And since 2009 on most economic metrics we have grown faster than the country. […]