Worth reading
Always too much good stuff that I can’t find time or space to write about. Here are links to three reports/articles I found worth reading. The Harvard Graduate School of Education released an important study called Pathways to Prosperity which puts back on the table the question of whether the sole focus of k-12 education […]
Politics vs Economics III
In his analysis of the recent elections which I wrote about previously Richard Florida quotes the Cato Institute’s Brink Lindsey. Who said Here, in the first decade of the 21st century, the rival ideologies of left and right are both pining for the ’50s. The only difference is that liberals want to work there, while […]
Jobs but not enough workers again
I need to figure out how often to post this basic story. Because it is going to appear regularly in the press across the state, probably for years, mainly in our big metros. The reason to write about it a lot is that no one believes it. The dominant story is that there are no […]
Really Not Picking Winners
Governor Snyder in his State of the State address announced the state would no longer pick winners and losers. The way he proposed to implement that was by expanding eligibility for subsidies from the state’s Twenty First Century Jobs Fund to all industries rather than just a few pre-selected industries. It’s a curious way to […]
Not the South
What is most disturbing about the “we should be like the South” mantra is that, by and large, these are the lowest education attainment states in the country. Most of those who advocate becoming like the South also say that Michigan can’t be successful unless we substantially increase the proportion of our adults with post […]
State of the State
Thanks to the folks at Crain’s Detroit Business for publishing my reaction to Governor Snyder’s first State of the State address. You can find it here. Lots of good ideas/priorities in the speech – some quite courageous – but there always is the question of how do you make the numbers add up. Can you […]
High School Struggles
MDRC has done a comprehensive evaluation of New York City’s new small high schools. I think the findings are quite important. Mainly because NYC under Joel Klein – who recently left as school chief – is considered to be the best and most comprehensive of the school reform efforts in central cities across the country. Basically […]
A list you want to be on
Fascinating article on Yahoo Finance on the states with the highest proportion of households with incomes of $200,000 or more. There are now 4.5 million households in the country who earn more than $200,000, 3.8% of the population. The top 15 states with the highest percent of households with income above $200,000 in order: DC, Connecticut, […]
Two Steps in the Right Direction
Governor Granholm and the lame duck legislature in December enacted an important change in Michigan transportation policy. They are to be commended. The new policy, which goes by the name complete streets, finally takes away the long standing policy that the preeminent mode of transportation is driving. Now transportation officials must consider pedestrians, bicyclists and […]
Not Texas
The state we are probably lectured about the most as a model for how Michigan state government should work like is Texas. The story goes they are a low tax/low spending/weak union state and therefore has a strong economy. Think again! Turns out they have one of the largest state budget deficits in the country. […]