Editorial

State Agency Says '#MichiganIsAuto,' But the Economy Has Changed

The MEDC is #outoftouch with Michigan's economic diversity

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation, the state government agency in charge of giving selective tax breaks and subsidies to certain corporations and developers, publishes short messages on the social media platform Twitter. They include the hashtag "#MichiganIsAuto."

ForTheRecord: Interestingly, the state’s economic development agency has not caught up with the diversity of Michigan’s changing 21st-century economy.

In November 2000, manufacturing jobs for “transportation equipment” accounted for 7.3 percent of all jobs in Michigan, or roughly 1 out of 14. By November 2015, that same category — which includes most people who make cars or car parts — had fallen to just 4.4 percent of the jobs in Michigan, or roughly 1 out of 23.

#MichiganIsDiverse

Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.