Productivity up, not wages II
The evidence keeps growing that economic growth is increasingly going to capital not labor. And that unless that changes most Americans are facing a declining standard of living. David Brooks is right when he writes in a column: “For example, we are now at the end of the era in which a rising tide lifts […]
What is quality education? II
As we explored in my last post a quality education is about far more than preparing our kids and grandkids for a job or career. Adult life is about far more than earning a living. In this post I want to focus on the component of a quality education that is about preparing students for […]
What is quality education?
We are increasingly inundated with rankings of k-12 schools. The question I always ask is “would the report’s authors send their kids or grandkids to the top ranked schools?” And in most of the rankings that I have seen the answer is almost certainly not. That, of course, raises the question “why should anyone else rely […]
DEPSA Early College of Excellence
Our Michigan Future Schools initiative is designed to launch new high schools serving students from the City of Detroit that not only will graduate nearly all students, have them enroll in college, but most importantly earn a two or four year degree. Across the country, and in Detroit, we have high schools that are meeting […]
Productivity up, not wages
The Atlantic increasingly is one of the places I go to learn what is happening in the economy. Worth checking out. They just published an insightful article on “The End of Middle Class Growth”. The article explores “disruptions in long-established connections between productivity and earnings, between labor and capital, between top earners and everyone else, […]
Indiana by the numbers
Theme: Low business costs states don’t win Now that state policy makers have stated that Indiana is the model for what they want Michigan’s economy to be like we need to learn what is in store for Michiganders if that vision is realized. As you will see below in the economic outcomes that matter to […]
North Carolina and Massachusetts by the numbers
Theme: Low cost states don’t win Conventional wisdom is that so-called business friendly places have the best economies. That the way to grow a state’s or region’s economy is to lower business costs with lower taxes, less regulation and weaker unions. Don’t believe it. On just about every measure that matters to people––whether you have […]
Welcoming: another big picture theme
When I read my post laying out the themes that we believe matter most to recreating a Michigan with a broad middle class I realized I left out an important ingredient to economic success: A core characteristic of successful places in a flattening world is they are welcoming to all. The places with the greatest concentration […]
Higher education is economic development
Theme: Quality education matters most Michigan––any many other states––have been slashing higher education funding for the last decade. It has been viewed as something we can’t afford in hard economic times. A luxury that you invest in when times are good, rather than an essential ingredient to making the economy grow again. Not smart! As […]
Competing like the Tigers
Theme: The places with the greatest concentration of talent win Among all the disappointing actions taken by Michigan policy makers the past two years––particularly in December––the most disturbing is explicitly positioning Michigan to compete with Indiana. As we and many others have pointed out incessantly Indiana is one of the poorest states in the country and […]