I’ve been thinking a lot lately about why middle class life feels increasingly unstable over these last several years—especially in Michigan. Frequent readers of MFI know that we often cite the Michigan Association of United Way’s ALICE report, and its…
Reading the guest commentary Governor Snyder penned for Bridge Magazine explaining the ideas behind his Marshall Plan for Talent was like riding a roller coaster. It’s clear Governor Snyder understands that the world of work has fundamentally changed and that…
A few weeks ago, Amazon announced that neither of Michigan’s major metros, Detroit and Grand Rapids, are finalists for the location of HQ2. Lou wrote about why we at Michigan Future were not at all surprised. For years, MFI has…
On Wednesday I wrote about how women in particular are doing in Michigan's--and the world's--changing economy. I started by sharing data on single women-led households with children, who are more likely than not to be living in poverty. Then I…
Following a weekend in which, for the second year in a row, women around the world marched for a variety of issues affecting women and communities they care about, I thought it would be appropriate to spend a minute here…
In my last post, I walked us through the four levels of confidence that are described by Roberta Michnick Golinkoff and Kathy Hirsh-Pasek in their book, Becoming Brilliant. They describe confidence as one of six of the most important capacities…
I’ve been looking more deeply into one of the “Cs” of the “6 Cs” that we believe, based on Roberta Michnick Golinkoff and Kathy Hirsh-Pasek’s book Becoming Brilliant are the skills that kids need to be successful in the 21st…
Two weeks ago on this blog, Lou wrote about some new job projections for 2016-2026 from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). BLS data show that job growth between now and 2026 is going to be clustered at either end…
Robots are having a media moment. It seems like everywhere I turn, the specter of robots replacing human labor at a massive scale--and the fear that engenders--is reaching a zeitgeist. Last week’s New Yorker cover shows a human man begging…
Last week I summarized the section of our recently released paper, A Path to Good-paying Careers for all Michiganders: Sharing prosperity with those not participating in the high-wage knowledge-based economy, that focuses on necessary reforms to the criminal justice system. I…