Prosperity and college attainment
Data are now available for 2014 for per capita income and education attainment by state. Michigan ranks 35th in per capita income and 34th in the proportion of adults with a four year degree or more. Michigan is now structurally a low prosperity state. Every year from 2006 through 2014 the state has ranked between […]
Two books about poverty
Two highly recommended books about poverty in America: Stuck in Place by Patrick Sharkey $2.00 a Day by Kathryn Edin and Luke Shaefer In this post we will focus on Stuck in America. I will write about $2.00 a Day in the next. Sharkey (NYU) details how living in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty across generations […]
Saying one thing and doing another
I have noted frequently that business, political and media elites are increasingly advising other people’s kids not to pursue a four year degree while their kids overwhelmingly are pursuing a four year degree. The advice stems from the not accurate conventional wisdom that unless you get a four year degree in a STEM field you […]
Post secondary certificates vs. four-year degrees
Governor Snyder is in the vanguard of elected officials and business leaders who are pushing for more Michigan students to pursue occupational certificates and associate degrees with an occupational major rather than a four-year degree, particularly in non STEM fields. Supposedly we have too many of the latter and too few of the former to […]
Careers and the liberal arts
As you know we believe that successful careers going forward are going to look far more like rock climbing than ladder climbing. The notion of career ladders––known linear steps up––is increasingly out of date in a world where globalization and technology make jobs and occupations less secure. Add to that, as Daniel Pink explores in […]
The bottom ten
We explored in our last post the ten states with the highest net employment earnings (wages and employer paid benefits) per capita. The component of per capita income we believe is the key to long term sustainable growth in the standard of living. And the best measure of the more and better jobs that is […]
The right top ten updated
We are working on our next report: an assessment of the national, Michigan, metro Detroit and metro Grand Rapids economies in the fifth year of a national expansion. We continue to believe that per capita income is the best single measure of a state’s or region’s economic well being. In the report we focus on […]
Not occupation specific education
A central theme of our work has been that successful careers, in an economy constantly changing due to globalization and technology, requires us to be good rock climbers, rather than ladder climbers. Career ladders, where you worked your way up within an occupational category, are increasingly toast in a world where jobs and occupations are […]
A question
Governor Snyder in a MLive op ed writes: “Raising the taxes on our job creators would be economically challenging for Michigan, especially after we’ve come so far in reinventing our business climate.” (The op ed is arguing against proposals to raise the corporate income tax to help pay for roads.) The Governor, of course, is […]
Liberal arts and tech
Terrific Forbes article by George Anders entitled “That Useless Liberal Arts Degree Has Become Tech’s Hottest Ticket”. Its a must read for anyone interested in education or economic development. Conventional wisdom among folks working in either area has become that the only four year degrees or more that are needed by the economy and provide […]