Finally Rising Household Incomes

Finally rising household incomes

2015 turns out to be the year that a growing economy finally delivered rising incomes for low and middle income Americans and Michiganders. Median household income nationally rose 5.2 percent. In Michigan 2.4 percent. Michigan's median household income in 2015 was…

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Taxes and economic growth

Two recent New Times columns make the case that lower taxes are not the magic elixir that automatically  leads to economic success. Both worth reading. Bruce Bartlett, one of the authors of the Reagan tax cuts, in a critique of…

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Global manufacturing employment declining

Every election year candidates from both parties make growing manufacturing employment a centerpiece of their economic growth strategy. One problem: no matter who wins in DC or Lansing the structural decline in manufacturing employment continues unabated. Manufacturing employment declines sharply…

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The community college challenge

I support President Obama's proposal to make community college tuition free for those students who stay on track academically. Expanding education opportunity and outcomes is an essential component of raising the standard of living of all Americans. That said taking…

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Hanging on to the past: not smart!

Micheline Maynard wrote an insightful article for Atlantic Cities entitled The Midwest's Big Economic Miscalculation. She writes particularly about Michigan's continuing belief that the auto industry will once again be the engine of economic good times as it was for most…

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