Design as an economic engine
Interesting feature in Atlantic Cities entitled: A Visual History of Michigan’s Outsize Influence on American Modernism. The story is built around the upcoming Michigan Modern Symposium upcoming at Cranbrook from June 13-16. Both the article and conference web site are worth checking out. (If for no other reason than to check out the pictures of Michigan’s […]
Crain’s on talent
Crain’s Detroit Business featured talent in their Mackinac Conference edition. Four articles. All worth checking out! They highlight the importance, challenges and opportunities of preparing, retaining and attracting talent. An essential ingredient for future Michigan growth. Crain’s convened a roundtable on the topic that I was priviledged to participate in. The other participants were: David […]
Wanted: light rail for metro Detroit II
There has been good news on transit for metro Detroit. M1 –– the light rail line from downtown to midtown –– is going to be a major catalyst for future development of greater downtown Detroit. Thanks to the leadership of the Kresge Foundation and Dan Gilbert and Matt Cullen of Quicken (and other philanthropic and […]
Wanted: light rail for metro Detroit
At the same time that I was reading press reports that the powers that be have decided on bus rapid transit on Woodward from Detroit into Oakland County, Atlantic Cities ran an article on the success of the Phoenix light rail system. You read that right, no-real-downtown, sprawl-city Phoenix has made light rail a centerpiece to […]
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! […]