Michigan’s economy continues to reel. It was the only state in 2006 to actually experience negative economic growth. It has the highest unemployment rate in the nation at 7.6 percent, and at least one forecast anticipates the loss of up to 51,000 more jobs through 2008. If true, it represents the longest string of year-to-year job losses since the Great Depression.
Based on these numbers, few would expect that the production of cars and trucks from American factories was actually up 4.3 percent from 2001 through 2005 and that other manufacturing sectors have enjoyed robust growth. So why is the automobile capital of the world stumbling?
READ MORE ... Automotive Production Expands – Elsewhere was originally published on Feb. 4, 2008.
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For Further Reading: Hyperlinks to the Michigan Senate Fiscal Agency’s 2007 report on automotive production and other material related to this topic may be found online at www.mackinac.org/9312. |
License to Work: A National Study of Burdens from Occupational Licensing is the first national study to measure how burdensome occupational licensing laws are for lower-income workers and aspiring entrepreneurs.
Michigan has one of the most burdensome licensing requirements. Our state forces people to take classes and pay money to the state for things like painting, floor sanding, cutting hair and low-level carpentry. Few other states require that.
