Machines destroying occupations

The scariest article I have read about the economy lately comes from the AP entitled: “Recession, tech kill middle-class jobs”. The article is about the accelerating pace at which smarter and smarter machines and software are replacing workers. Its the new reality that we all need to understand and respond to. Its a must read article! […]

Employers responding to skill shortages II

As we explored in our last post, in a market economy its employers, not the government, who have the most effective levers to deal with skill shortages. Its not government or educators who are responsible for steering new entrants into the labor market to particular occupations or industries. And certainly not as a way to […]

Employers responding to skill shortages

There is a lot of skepticism about a skill shortage in technical occupations –– the most publicized are in manufacturing –– because employers seem to be doing the opposite of what they should to respond to shortages. Mainly not raising (in many cases cutting) wages and benefits, but also erecting barriers to hiring, filling vacancies […]

Quality of place attracts talent

So I was reading, not for work, a New York Times article on the architecture of Columbus, Indiana when I came across this: It was, in fact, J. Irwin Miller, scion of the Irwin-Miller family and arts patron, who transformed Columbus into an architectural mecca. As head of the Cummins Engine Company for 30 years, Mr. […]

The need for a new economy

Thought provoking essay by Walter Russell Mead for the American Interest entitled: The job crisis: Bigger than you think. Worth reading! Mead tells well the story Michigan Future has been describing for years. That just as more than a century ago when agriculture could no longer be a source of a prosperous America, the same […]

Not enough jobs

Interesting Businessweek article entitled What’s wrong with the U.S. Job market?. It’s what we should debating. The answer is clearly not the one we are hearing increasingly: that kids are getting too much education. That if only college aged students got technical rather than liberal arts degrees far more folks would be working. What nonsense! […]

Employment by education attainment updated

Both Catherine Rampell of the New York Times and Matthew O’Brien of the Atlantic have articles (which you can find here and here) on the continuing evidence that those with four year degrees have done best since the onset of the Great Recession. It’ s not close! Using Bureau of Labor Statistics data through March […]

Education for more than Michigan employment

Phil Power, the terrific founder of the Center for Michigan, recently wrote a column for Bridge entitled: Schools, colleges aren’t preparing students for careers in Michigan. I find the title quite troubling. It assumes that the purpose of schools and colleges is preparing Michigan students for Michigan jobs and careers. It is the same thinking […]

Education for the economy of the future II

Bloomberg Businessweek just published their New Rules for the modern workplace. Their list: Rule No. 1: Your job is temporary. Where you start isn’t where you’ll end up. Your job, company, and profession may completely change because of mergers and acquisitions, layoffs, outsourcing, automation, and various other factors that are outside your control. Rule No. 2: […]