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Jan 17, 2025 | 
mackinac.org | Michael J. Reitz |Jamie A. Hope
This article originally appeared in The Detroit News December 31 2024. Is there a state agency with a worse track record than the Michigan Economic Development Corp.? The MEDC tries to promote economic growth in Michigan by giving billions of dollars of taxpayer money to hand-picked corporations. Sometimes the MEDC brings a new company to the state; sometimes it bargains to keep a company from leaving.
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Jan 16, 2025 | 
mackinac.org | Michael J. Reitz
This article originally appeared in The Detroit News December 10, 2024. The loneliness problem in America is a perplexing one. The U.S. Surgeon General warned last year that the country faces an “epidemic” of loneliness, with serious health issues that accompany isolation. The surgeon general’s recommendations for fixing loneliness are massive, costly and uncertain, as you may have read in my column last week.
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Jan 15, 2025 | 
mackinac.org | Michael J. Reitz
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This article originally appeared in The Detroit News December 3, 2024.
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Jan 13, 2025 | 
mackinac.org | James M. Hohman |Michael J. Reitz
Michigan's economy continued to grow in 2024, but the growth rate should have elected officials concerned. The state is not performing up to national averages, and Michigan is already behind many of the average levels of prosperity. Job growth slowed in 2024. The state has been at roughly 4.5 million jobs since April 2024 and ranks 10th-worst among the states in jobs growth over that period. Jobs had been up 4% in 2021 and 2022 and 2% in 2023. It’s a sign of stagnancy.
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Jan 8, 2025 | 
mackinac.org | Michael J. Reitz
This article originally appeared in The Detroit News December 24, 2024. Some years, no one gets what they want for Christmas. That is certainly true for policymakers in Lansing in the closing days of December. Michigan’s lame-duck legislative session ground to a halt last week. “Lame duck” is that period after a November election, before the new legislature begins in January — a last chance for unfinished business.
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Jan 7, 2025 | 
detroitnews.com | Michael J. Reitz
The 2024 lame-duck legislative session provided fuel for the argument that Michigan should end its practice of holding sessions during the period between the election and the inauguration of a new Legislature. The Democrats’ slim majority in the House blew apart in acrimonious finger-pointing. Several House Democrats skipped session days, depriving Speaker Joe Tate, D-Detroit, of a quorum. House Republicans walked off the floor.
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Dec 10, 2024 | 
detroitnews.com | Michael J. Reitz
The loneliness problem in America is a perplexing one. The U.S. Surgeon General warned last year that the country faces an “epidemic” of loneliness, with serious health issues that accompany isolation. The surgeon general’s recommendations for fixing loneliness are massive, costly and uncertain, as you may have read in my column last week. However, I have found that one strategy could be used by most people: good old-fashioned work.
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Dec 3, 2024 | 
detroitnews.com | Michael J. Reitz
Americans have a loneliness problem. New research shows that many adults in the United States experience loneliness, and rates are even higher among young adults. The problem is serious enough that local governments across the country are addressing it. Can we reverse this troubling trend? In a recent study Harvard researchers found that 21% of adults reported feeling lonely within the previous 30 days. People ages 30 to 44 recorded the highest levels at 29%.
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Nov 27, 2024 | 
mackinac.org | James M. Hohman |Michael J. Reitz
Rep. Matt Hall, R-Richmond, drafted a plan to spend more money on roads. He would redirect the state’s corporate income tax revenue to transportation and away from corporate handouts. He would also replace the sales tax levied on fuel with a fuel tax that goes to roads. His proposal would put a lot more into roads without raising taxes. Government spending interests are skeptical.
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Nov 26, 2024 | 
detroitnews.com | Michael J. Reitz
Last year, I saw Larry and Sue at my father’s funeral. My parents had been friends with them for decades. Their children were some of my best friends growing up. It had been 20 years since we had seen each other. When I saw the couple at the funeral, I introduced my wife to them and told her a story of their past kindness:I was about 13 and I needed eyeglasses. My parents couldn’t afford the eye exam or the glasses. Larry and Sue were in town visiting and somehow, they recognized the need.
