Cities are in again
Amazing new data from the Census Bureau. 2011 is the first year in a century that central cities grew more than their suburbs. (See this MSNBC story for details.) Talk about a seismic change. Cities showing higher population gains compared to their suburbs last year include Atlanta, Denver, Washington, D.C., Charlotte, N.C., Boston, Chicago, New […]
Ideology and reality of small town America
Gail Collins wrote a really insightful op ed on the divisions that characterizes American politics today. Entitled “Running on Empty” she argues that: “Our biggest political division is the war between the empty places and the crowded places.” Crowded places (think big metros) wanting government, empty places (think small town/rural America) wanting to get rid […]
The Lansing State Journal on talent attraction
The Lansing State Journal recently did a section on the importance of talent attraction and retention to the region’s economic success. Worth reading! I was one of the guest columinsts. You can find my column here. Other columns were authored by Dave Waymire, Doug Stites, CEO of the Capital Area Michigan Works!, and Lansing developer Pat […]
The folly of government picking occupations
Interesting Wall Street Journal article entitled “Forget B-school, D-school is hot”. D for arts and design schools. Demand for these schools is growing as is private sector companies interest in hiring graduates. The article mentions Electronic Arts, JetBlue Airways, SAP, Intuit, P&G , Google, Nike and Fidelity Investments. This is consistent with the ideas in […]
Making the case that central cities matter
A central theme of ours is that economic growth is increasingly being driven by big metropolitan areas anchored by vibrant central cities. These are the places where both knowledge-based companies and college educated adults are concentrating. And the places where they concentrate are the most prosperous in the country. Where personal income is the highest, […]
Going in the wrong direction on research universities
Michigan spent most of the 20th century building a world class system of higher education – both universities and community colleges. That system is now at the top of the list of the assets Michigan has to grow its economy. It is vital to developing the concentration of talent we need to be successful in […]
Massachusetts as the model
Terrific Slate article entitled Don’t Mess with Massachusetts: It may be everyone’s punching bag, but it’s time to face facts: The Bay State is best. You read that right! Massachusetts as the state we should want to be like. How can that be? As Mark Vanhoenacker – the article’s author – writes: Massachusetts, in today’s political […]
Worth reading
Lots of good stuff being written about the themes we are focused on at Michigan Future. Here is a list of recent articles I think are particularly worth reading: A Gap in College Graduates Leaves Some Cities Behind, from the New York Times on a new analysis from Brookings. More evidence that the metropolitan areas […]
Talent trumps taxes again
Fascinating Crain’s Detroit Business article entitled “So why does a business leave northern Michigan for Florida? Sometimes, it’s talent, not taxes.” The story is about a Cadillac digital medical records company – BlueWare – leaving Michigan for Orlando, Florida. The reason? Crain’s writes: “I just couldn’t hire people in northern Michigan,” Harr (company founder Rose […]
The 3.0 agenda: three quotes
For my Wayne State speech I used three quotes to introduce our framework for what state and local policy makers and economic development leaders should focus on if they want to recreate a high prosperity Michigan – a place with a broad middle class. What are the levers that can best position Michigan and its […]