Lessons from the ITT Tech collapse
CEO of the Michigan Association of State Universities Daniel Hurley’s blog The Closure of ITT Tech and the Crash-Landing of the For-Profit College Industry is worth checking out. It provides a good overview of what led to the closing and more broadly the systemic problems of for-profit colleges, particularly those which focus on occupation training in […]
Talent, not low taxes, delivers prosperity
Terrific Inc. column by University of Michigan Ross Business School professor Jeff DeGraff entitled It’s the Talent Stupid. DeGraff makes the case that low tax states and regions do not have the best economies. Rather it is those who have the best talent. We are now living in an economy where talent is the asset that […]
Cars as a service
One of the new realities is that we are now a service-providing rather than a goods-producing dominant economy. And that high-paying work is now knowledge-based rather than factory-based. These are realities that politics/policy can’t change. Those individuals and communities that align with, rather than resist, will do best. Lyft co-founder John Zimmer in his Third […]
Autonomous vehicles and 3D printed cars too?
Its clear that autonomous vehicles are coming. Its a question of when, not if. And that means radical change in the industry that drives Michigan’s economy; in how we live our lives; and how our communities are structured. For an insightful and fascinating take on how this will all play out check out The Third […]
Candidates can’t deliver more manufacturing jobs
Terrific New York Times magazine article entitled Why Are Politicians So Obsessed With Manufacturing? It details the reality that no matter what candidates from both parties promise manufacturing jobs are not coming back. (Edward McClelland explores this topic specifically about Michigan in a recent New York Times op ed. He cites our “The New Path to Prosperity: Lessons […]
More and more American men not working
Important column from former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers in the Washington Post entitled A disaster is looming for American men. Worth reading! Summers writes: Job destruction caused by technology is not a futuristic concern. It is something we have been living with for two generations. A simple linear trend suggests that by mid-century about a quarter […]
Standardized tests and teacher evaluation
We have explored previously how an over reliance on standardized tests is contributing to students leaving high school neither college or career ready. To make matters worse we now are putting in place a teacher evaluation system that also over relies on standardized tests. As I wrote in my last post we need to give […]
Holding management accountable for school results
One of the main lessons we learned from our Michigan Future Schools initiative is, contrary to conventional wisdom, the core characteristic of pre K-12 schools nationally that are getting breakthrough gains in student achievement is the commitment and capability of the management of schools (the central office of both charter school networks and traditional public […]
Finally rising household incomes
2015 turns out to be the year that a growing economy finally delivered rising incomes for low and middle income Americans and Michiganders. Median household income nationally rose 5.2 percent. In Michigan 2.4 percent. Michigan’s median household income in 2015 was $51,084 compared to $56,517 for the nation. The poverty rate fell nationally from 14.8 to […]
Successful cities aren’t like the suburbs
Insightful L.A. Times op ed by Mark Vallianatos and Mott Smith entitled L.A. isn’t a suburb. We need to stop planning it like one. The three core characteristics of vibrant central cities are walkable, high density and mixed use. The core characteristics of suburbs are the exact opposite. They were designed for driving, low density and single use neighborhoods. […]