Why criminal justice reform is a part of our path to prosperity
If you’ve been following this blog, you know we recently released the second in-depth topic paper outlining the proposed policy changes that we believe can help put Michigan back on a path to prosperity. To us, a prosperous state is one in which almost every adult is working, and where that work pays a good […]
Turning on Kids’ “Lightbulbs:” Conversations with Educators
Michigan Future Schools, an initiative of Michigan Future, Inc. that Lou, Pat, Kim and I (your regular bloggers here at MFI) all worked on, wound up its direct work with schools in large part by last summer. This year our funders asked us to think about how we could ensure that the things we learned […]
Could Michigan See a New Historic Preservation Tax Credit? (Please?)
Our recent report, “A Path to Good-paying Careers for all Michiganders: A 21st Century state policy agenda,” lays out the importance of placemaking to a prosperous Michigan, especially in our biggest cities. Some states have powerful economic development tools especially tailored to creating the cities that attract and retain talented residents, including historic preservation tax […]
Where Do College-Educated Millennials Live–and What Should Michigan Do About It?
In Lou’s work with Michigan Future, he has argued for years—and argues again in our recent report—that Michigan needs to come to grips with the fact that a prosperous state economy isn’t driven anymore by lots of low-skilled manufacturing work, or even traditional business development. It’s driven by talent. The high-wage jobs and innovative companies […]
New bill in Oregon addresses housing affordability–by limiting local control
Oregon’s legislature is considering a fascinating, and controversial, bill to remove certain local controls over development in favor of new, faster development and higher density. The Atlantic’s “City Lab” reports: H.B. 2007 would preempt residential downzoning in cities, meaning a neighborhood couldn’t seek lower density than its current status. It would also preempt cities or […]
What percentage of your job is “robotizable”?
This week, Marketplace started a great series on the ways that robots and automation are rapidly changing the jobs that are available to humans. This reporting follows on the heels of a McKinsey report that surprised many people with its forecast of what jobs are susceptible to automation. Turns out, robots are going to be […]
MFS Lessons Learned Part Two: The How
Michigan Future Schools (MFS), a seven-year long initiative of Michigan Future, Inc., to fund and grow high schools in Detroit that are committed to high school graduation (read more here) wound down its work last summer. We’ve spent time this year reflecting on some of the central lessons learned by MFS staff throughout the years […]
Why are more men not at work?
Read this and let it sink in for a minute: A man with only a high school diploma is twice as likely to be out of work as a man who has a four-year college degree. And, of the 9.3 million men between the ages of 25 and 50 who weren’t working last year, 1.7 […]
New report shares the impact of over-incarceration on kids
At MFI, we were already supportive of prison reform that helps nonviolent criminals stay out of jail when appropriate, not least because doing time severely limits one’s ability to participate meaningfully in the economy following release. When we look at what it will take for Michigan to be prosperous again, we need to be removing […]
Low college attainment is hurting Michigan, and it’s worse for black students at Michigan colleges
The Education Trust just published a report that shows the sizable gap between African-American and white completion rates at America’s colleges. Overall, 63.2 percent of white students who enroll in a four-year college graduate in six years, while only 40.6 percent of black students do. The short story of the trends is this: high selectivity […]