The 99 percent in Michigan and Minnesota
Important new report from the Economic Policy Institute on the continuing pulling away of the top one percent from the bottom 99 percent. The big picture story is as EPI writes: Examining the growth of income over the past century, we find growth was broadly shared from 1945 to 1973 and highly unequal from 1973 to […]
Questions we all should be asking 2018 candidates
Over the last year, I’ve been traveling Michigan and speaking to groups about the need for a new economic agenda for our state, one that puts a good-paying career for all front and center. Such an agenda reflects understanding that in good times and bad far too many Michigan households are experiencing declining or stagnant […]
Minnesotans doing better than Wisconsinites
Important report from the Economic Policy Institute comparing the economic progress Minnesota and Wisconsin have made since the 2010 election. EPI describes the economic paths the two states have taken this way: Governor Walker and the Wisconsin state legislature have pursued a highly conservative agenda centered on cutting taxes, shrinking government, and weakening unions. In […]
Full employment and too many low wage jobs
The Atlantic recently explored what the American economy might look like with full employment. Using today’s metro Des Moines as the example. It’s a region with very low unemployment and a high employment to population ratio. What is happening in Des Moines is reaffirmation that full employment matters. It tilts the balance of power towards […]
Those with a four-year degree most satisfied with their education decisions
The Federal Reserve recently published their Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2017. It reports on the results of a survey of American’s assessments of their economic well-being. The report is worth reading. It’s a great overview of how well American households are doing economically today. The report finds that 42 percent of American […]
Another technologist moves away from recommending STEM
Vivek Wadhwa is a Distinguished Fellow at Harvard Law School and Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Engineering at Silicon Valley. He researches exponentially advancing technologies that are soon going to change our world. And yet he has moved away from recommending STEM as the path to successful careers. In a Washington Post column entitled Why the […]
Placemaking lessons from Ford and Minneapolis
The New York Times recently wrote about Ford’s purchase of the long-abandoned Detroit train station. The article’s subtitle is what matters: By renovating a symbol of the city’s decline, the company hopes to create a magnet for the talent needed to prevail in the next automotive era. Ford has learned the lesson that far too many […]
Our new metro Minneapolis case study
Last year we published our first-ever state policy recommendations. Our motivation for doing so is a sense of urgency that across the political spectrum we need a different set of policy options. Ideas not about how we can turn the clock back and make the old economy work again, but rather ideas about how we can […]
What skilled trades jobs actually pay updated
Our second most read post recently is a 2016 post on what skilled trades jobs pay. I wrote the 2016 post because I was then––and am now––skeptical of the claims about the number of jobs and pay in the traditional blue collar trades. Given the interest in the topic here are updated data for those occupations. And […]
Michigan getting poorer
The Michigan Association of United Way’s ALICE report is the best calculation of the proportion of Michigan households that cannot afford basic necessities. That 40 percent of Michigan households––in a strong economy––can’t pay for basic necessities should be sending off alarm bells among policymakers that the Michigan economy is leaving far too many Michiganders behind. […]