There’s little doubt that our universities are among Michigan’s most valuable and important assets. But real alarm about public higher education is spreading throughout the country — and threatening profound consequences for our state and it colleges. Take the case of Teresa Sullivan, a former provost at the University of Michigan and now president of the […]
Phil Power
Former newspaper publisher and University of Michigan Regent Phil Power is a longtime observer of Michigan politics and economics. He is also the founder and former chairman of the Center for Michigan which publishes Bridge Michigan and BridgeDetroit.
Posted inPhil's Column
Court elections put big money in charge
When I think about the Michigan Supreme Court, I have to sadly conclude it represents the very best justice that partisan money can buy. That’s a scandal and a disgrace. Four years ago, the University of Chicago Law School ranked all the nation’s supreme courts. It rated Michigan’s dead last, based partly on its lack […]
Posted inPhil's Column
Snyder out-maneuvers Morouns, legislators to get critical bridge project going
So it looks as though Gov. Rick Snyder will get his bridge … which is to say that the people of Michigan will get their much-needed new bridge across the Detroit River. Obviously, this is not going to happen overnight. Those busy folks over at the Detroit International Bridge Co. (a.k.a. the Moroun family, which […]
Posted inPhil's Column
Michigan voters could decide casino locales, emergency manager law on 2012 ballot
Sheesh. We’ve already seen a ton of dueling political TV ads already, and we’re not even into summer — which officially begins this year on June 20, the day with the most sunlight in the year. Regardless of the season, you might say we need a little more light shed on our political process. And […]
Posted inPhil's Column
Michigan profits from Snyder's long view
Broad agreement has been reached on the last of the budget bills, and the Legislature will soon adjourn. The Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Mackinac Island policy conference has come and gone. Summer, in other words, is almost here, a blessed pause before the noisy chaos of the fall’s political campaigns. So this may be […]
Posted inPhil's Column
Michigan, let's target and sideline special interests
Travel often gives you new ways of looking at things … and that is certainly true of travel to China. My wife Kathy and I just got back from visiting our son, who lives and works in Shanghai. We were there for 10 days, and it’s good to be home. But even through the fog of […]
Posted inPhil's Column
Half the investment on colleges means a full measure of trouble for Michigan
To grow Michigan’s economy, we need more skilled workers, an estimated 1 million two- and four-year college graduates are needed to fill the job vacancies by 2025. Employers all over our state are complaining they can’t find workers with adequate skills to meet their job openings. The logic of increasing state support for higher education is […]
Posted inPhil's Column
State leaders run wrong way on higher education
The progressive group Business Leaders for Michigan just held a leadership summit devoted to the topic of learning and our state’s economic future. The theme was “Higher Education: A Growth Engine for the New Michigan” and it drew a lot of high-powered, knowledgeable people to the Lansing Center Monday afternoon. They came from various places […]
Posted inPhil's Column
Michigan, learn the lessons of early childhood
There are two approaches to justify initiatives in public policy: arguing from assertions of morality and reasoning from return on investment. The former method is by far the most common in today’s discourse. It’s relatively easy to do and comforting, as well, to wrap one’s preferences in the gauzy warmth of moral principles. And in some […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Moroun family looks to state ballot tactic to protect its business
News item: The Detroit International Bridge Company, which owns the Ambassador Bridge, wants to put a state constitutional amendment on the ballot, one that would require a statewide vote for the New International Trade Crossing bridge to go forward. There’s little mystery as to what this is really all about. The bridge company is entirely […]