Section » Recent Reports
Lou’s 2009 Presentation
The powerpoint presentation Lou Glazer uses in his speeches around the state on the future of the economy and what Michigan needs to do to prosper in it.
New Agenda for a New Michigan – 2nd Annual Progress Report
Michigan Future has completed is second annual report on Michigan’s transition to a knowledge-based economy and what we found is stunning – the trends we have written about in our previous reports have accelerated in the downturn.
From when the recession began in December 2007 through January 2009, low education attainment industries (primarily manufacturing,
construction, retail and hospitality) have suffered job losses of 3,735,000, while the high education attainment industries have added 163,000 jobs. (High education attainment industries didn’t peak until August 2008 and have since lost 247,000 jobs.)
What made Michigan prosperous in the past is no longer a path to prosperity. The
knowledge-based economy is now the path to prosperity for Michigan.
Click here for the Full Report
Click here for Executive Summary
Click here for Presentation
Click here for Appendix A
Click here for Appendix B
Young Talent in the Great Lakes: How Michigan Is Faring?
This report is part of the Michigan Future, Inc. New Agenda for a New Michigan project. Its focus is on identifying a path to better position Michigan to succeed in the flattening world economy of the future, a path that will return Michigan to high prosperity, measured by per capita income consistently above the national average in both national economic expansions and contractions.
Our basic conclusion: What most distinguishes successful areas from Michigan is their concentrations of talent, where talent is defined as a combination of knowledge, creativity and entrepreneurship. Quite simply, in a flattening world, the places with the greatest concentrations of talent win! States and regions without concentrations of talent will have great difficulty retaining or attracting knowledge-based enterprises, and they are not likely to be the places where new knowledge-based enterprises are created.
Click here for the full report
A New Agenda For A New Michigan
This is a foundation report that sets the stage for our initiatives to help create a prosperous Michigan. The reality in Michigan is startling – it has experienced six years of employment decline (2000-2006), even during three years of a national economic upturn. Unlike the relative prosperity it enjoyed for most of last century, Michigan is now below the national average in per capita income. The key cause is that Michigan has been slow to adapt to a rapidly changing global economy and the path forward will require concentrating in knowledge-based enterprises that are seeing the fastest growth and the highest pay.
The New Agenda for a New Michigan report strives to provide recommendations to reverse the trend and to put Michigan back on a path to prosperity, which we define as above the national average in per capita income in both upturns and downturns. In our report, we recommend building a culture that is aligned with a flat world that values learning, entrepreneurship, and diversity. It means investing in higher education first and foremost with recommendations to give autonomy to public institutions of higher learning, match federal research dollars with state funding, and fund students rather than institutions. It will also requires an ability to attract talent, which means building regions that are attractive places to live and have vibrant central city neighborhoods and right level of infrastructure (which now means advanced connections to internet, international airports, and green infrastructure). The path forward also includes an increased focus on attracting export-based business investment, aligning k-12 education with a knowledge-driven economy, and having strong civic, business, and political leadership.
To see the full report and recommendations, click here
Connecting Urban Poor To Work
Published in 1998 while the Michigan economy was booming, this report addressed the paradoxical issue of connecting the urban poor to work. As we found, even though Michigan had record low unemployment, had income rising for the first time in two decades, and saw employers facing challenges in finding qualified people in the so-called “War for Talent”, we did not see economic opportunities trickle down to the urban poor. In fact, during this climate of economic vibrance, unemployment remained notably high in urban Michigan.
Connecting Urban Poor To Work: A Framework and Strategy for Action was designed to develop workable policies that lead to economic self-sufficiency for urban poor through helping urban adults find work. The study finds that just because the economy is providing increasing opportunities it does not mean the urban poor are able to connect to them. The path to economic self-sufficiency is through the regional (rather than local) labor market and having the skills to compete for jobs at the regional level. A key barrier to acquisition of skills are the effects of concentrated poverty. The recommended policy interventions include deconcentrating poverty, enhancing early childhood development, transforming urban K-12, reducing economic segregation in housing and schooling, and investing in training for the chronically unemployed. In addition, the research in this report is forming the basis for Michigan Future Inc’s work in improving schools.
Please read the Full Report for a complete look at our research and recommendations.
• Copyright 2009 • Twitter: #michiganfuture