“If you can’t explain to a 5-year-old what you’re doing, you don’t know what you’re doing” — Robert D. Ballard, explorer of shipwrecks. * The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities addresses “some basic facts” about state and local workers. Among them, “Benefits like pensions and health insurance are larger and more secure for most […]
Land O Links
Posted inTalent & Education
Colleges' ROI more complicated than simple math
Philip Swanson, fresh from earning his degree in civil engineering from Wayne State University, already is among a fortunate minority. While more than 50 percent of college grads under age 25 are either jobless or under-employed, Swanson has secured a full-time job in his field of study. And, because he earned a baseball scholarship and […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Is Michigan higher ed headed for a shakeout?
Richard Vedder is a higher ed heretic. At a time when virtually everyone is pushing for more kids to go to college, the director of the Center for College Affordability & Productivity argues the traditional college deal is not what it used to be. With college graduates plentiful and jobs scarce, a diploma from a […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Cheboygan hospital's turmoil, shrinkage part of necessary change in rural health
By Marianne Udow-Phillips/Center for Healthcare Research & Transformation Debates about the Affordable Care Act will continue — in the Supreme Court, in the halls of Congress and around the country — but health reform is already happening all around us. All we need to do is look. A case in point is Cheboygan on the […]
Posted inLand O Links
Land O Links
“They used to say that knowledge is power. I used to think so, but I now know that they mean money” — Lord Byron, 19th century English poet. * The first charter-school program got legislative authorization in Minnesota 20 years ago. Its author writes in Education Week to dispel myths about the formative years of […]
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 inBusiness Watch
Filmmakers still seeing stars after incentive cut
Once upon a time, Michael Jones had a career in Michigan. He was a location manager for print and TV advertising, finding, securing and running the spaces where commercial shoots set up temporary shop. Then things got very bad, when the auto industry collapsed, throwing its ancillary industries into chaos. But then, things got very, […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Were film tax incentives too good to last?
No one knows yet what the final economic impact will be when the film once known as “Category 6” and now called Untitled Tornado Project wraps production at Michigan Motion Picture Studios some time down the road, but Michigan taxpayers will be paying, one way or another. The studio, which was built as Raleigh Michigan […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest column: If Michigan prison costs are high, it's for good reason
By Jeff Sauter/Eaton County prosecutor The recently released PewCenter report on prison terms is an important source of statistical information which deserves careful study for policy use in Michigan. I want to warn, however, about drawing simplistic conclusions — which some will undoubtedly do in their perpetual advocacy for early release of prisoners or to […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest column: Michigan prison costs far exceed benchmarks; that should change
By Laura Sager/Citizens Alliance on Prisons & Public Spending Michigan taxpayers spend hundreds of millions of dollars more on prisons than public safety requires. How? By keeping people locked up far longer than we used to, than other states do and than is necessary to prevent recidivism. Every additional month, one person serves costs roughly […]