Last week, the Equality of Opportunity Project, led by Stanford economist Raj Chetty, released another study in their ongoing series on mobility in America. This one was particularly sobering. The headline: black males raised in wealthy households (the top quintile…
It passes for conventional wisdom these days that there’s a large mass of young college graduates (those with a four-year degree or more) who can’t find a job. Everyone seems to have a story about a friend of a friend…
Recent articles on automation in mining and fast foods reinforce that the new reality is that many jobs and occupations in a wide range of industries are likely to disappear sooner rather than later. The mining story comes from the…
One of the new economic realities, that can’t be altered by politics or public policy, is that smarter and smarter machines are going to accelerate creative destruction of jobs, occupations and even industries. The job, occupation and even the industry…
The New York Times reports that New York City has added more jobs over the last five years than during any five year period in the last half century. 425,000 new jobs since the end of 2009. Amazing! By contrast,…
The Upshot section of the New Year Times published a terrific infographic and article on today's middle class jobs compared to those in 1980. Those that pay between $40,000 and $80,000. Both are highly recommended, especially the infographic. The bottom…
Ever since hurricane Katrina the press, policy makers and other opinion leaders have pointed to Louisiana as a place to look for reforming public education. Primarily because in New Orleans they did away with teachers unions and largely went to…
More evidence that the conventional wisdom that a strong safety net leads to a weak economy is not accurate. As we explored previously that is one of the lessons we should learn from Minnesota. Which has a far more generous…
Despite all the headlines and headline statistics that say that the Michigan economy is "back" the reality is that many Michiganders are worse off today than they were prior to the onset of the Great Recession. The table at the…
Increasingly the story we are being told about the economy is that there are too many people with four-year degrees and not enough with training for mid-skill jobs. Needing something like an associates degree with an occupational major or occupational…