In our 2006 A New Agenda for a New Michigan we wrote: "For many Michiganians, vibrant central cities are part of the past. No longer relevant or just something you visit in unique places like Manhattan, Toronto or Chicago. Think…
I want to update a column I wrote for Dome in November 2011. Entitled "Model state for Michigan's future?" I wrote then: The Mackinac Center for Public Policy on Monday is hosting an event with Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels as…
So I was reading, not for work, a New York Times article on the architecture of Columbus, Indiana when I came across this: It was, in fact, J. Irwin Miller, scion of the Irwin-Miller family and arts patron, who transformed Columbus…
As we start the new year I thought it would be helpful to take a step back from the specifics I normally write about to delineate the themes that these posts are about. For the past several years––no matter who…
In an earlier post we quoted Thomas Friedman and Michael Mandelbaum from their book That Used to Be Us on tax and spending policy. They wrote: ... the purpose of the exercise: It is not simply to reduce the deficit…
For my Wayne State speech I used three quotes to introduce our framework for what state and local policy makers and economic development leaders should focus on if they want to recreate a high prosperity Michigan – a place with…
Brian Dickerson's Detroit Free Press column "What Rick Snyder wants most of all" column is highly recommended. It raises all the right questions about what direction the Governor wants Michigan to head in. Using the Governor's proposal for another big…
I want to complete this series of posts on private sector employment earnings (both wages and employer paid benefits) per capita with a look at data by size of metro. In many ways this is the most interesting findings in…
A recent LA Times story is headlined "California billionaires plan to put big tax hike on the ballot." You read that right: private sector leaders pushing for a tax increase! What do they want to do with the increased funds?…