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The folks who run the ACT college entrance exam have just released a troubling report on how well prepared America's high school students are for college. Their estimate is that twenty three percent of the high school students who took the ACT last year are likely to get a C or better in freshman English Composition, Algebra, Biology and Social…

One final article on what we can learn about developing an economic growth strategy from California. John Judis wrote for the New Republic a more nuanced article than the Time magazine cover story on the future prospects of California. Its worth reading. Judis agrees that California – no matter how dysfunctional its state government – is going to be a…

Reading and writing about the future of California has me thinking about what really matters to their likely continuing role as an economic powerhouse. What is it that positions them far better to succeed in a flattening world than Indiana and Michigan. I keep coming back to the central conclusion of our New Agenda work that culture trumps policy. (For…

In my last post we explored how is it that Time magazine could do a cover story on California's bright future economic prospects despite a dysfunctional state government and business unfriendly policies. The stuff that conventional wisdom believes is vital to a state's economy. Lets look at a state that many in Michigan think get policy right: Indiana. For decades…

The Kauffman Foundation recently had a Wall Street Journal Editorial on Friday that indicated all net job creation in the US since 1980 occurred in firms less than five years old. With unemployment over 15% in Michigan, we need new businesses to drive economic growth. Fortunately, evidence tells me that a major shift is happening in how students in Michigan…