The powerful myth of the young, unemployed BA
It passes for conventional wisdom these days that there’s a large mass of young college graduates (those with a four-year degree or more) who can’t find a job. Everyone seems to have a story about a friend of a friend whose son or daughter got a fancy degree from a fancy university, but is now […]
A vibrant central city is vital to regional prosperity
Updated data from Joe Cortright of Impressa on the continuation of young professionals choosing to live in central cities. Cortright, using American Community Survey data, looks at the change in the number of 25-34 year olds with a four-year degree living in the largest city in each region with a population of one million of […]
We need regional transit to grow our economy. It shouldn’t be that controversial
A few weeks ago, Amazon announced that neither of Michigan’s major metros, Detroit and Grand Rapids, are finalists for the location of HQ2. Lou wrote about why we at Michigan Future were not at all surprised. For years, MFI has advanced an economic development strategy that would lead to a high-prosperity Michigan based on the […]
Republican Governor and business community pushing for higher taxes
You read the headline right. In Oklahoma, not Michigan. NPR, in a story entitled Tax cuts put Oklahoma in a bind, now Gov. Fallin wants to raise taxes, provides an overview of the push to raise taxes in a deeply red state. NPR writes: In her State of the State address Monday, Gov. Mary Fallin […]
Breaking down the student loan “crisis”
Many believe that we have a student loan “crisis” on our hands. And indeed, the total level of outstanding student loan debt – $1.4 trillion at present – is striking. However, cumulative numbers like this, generally presented as evidence of the “crisis,” actually tell us very little about the actual impact of loans and debt […]
Needed for all: education for losing job(s)
Must-read Linkedin column by Heather E. McGowan entitled Preparing Students to Lose Their Job. It is the best description I have read on the need to change the mission of education from one that prepares people for a job to one that prepares people for continuous job loss. Largely because of machines increasingly doing the work now […]
Regional prosperity increasingly linked to four-year degrees
In my last post we look at the growing wage premium for those who have a four-year degree or more. Debunking the conventional wisdom that our kids are now better off foregoing a four-year degree to go into the skilled/professional trades. In this post I want to explore the importance of four-year degrees to state […]