Economy

It is a fact that secondhand smoke causes cancer and a wide variety of other health problems. These are health problems that have claimed countless lives and causes a massive strain on our nation’s strained healthcare system. As more and more states have taken action to ban smoking in public places and certain businesses - [...]

Governor Granholm spoke at a conference put on by the Michigan Federation of College Democrats today (group shot above), discussing education and the economy, as well as other hot button issues during a question and answer period. While I always enjoy hearing the Governor speak, there was a tidbit that she mentioned that I had [...]

In a crisis that’s been called the worst of its kind in 30 years, rising food prices are wreaking havoc across the globe. Food riots threaten governments from Malaysia to Egypt to Haiti. In response to growing demand from exploding populations and economic development, higher world oil prices, and the growing use of biofuels, the price [...]

I had an epiphany yesterday afternoon: Americans, including myself, generally have very little idea where their tax dollars go.  Take the Federal Gas Tax, for example.  Yes, gas is very expensive (although as I don’t have a car I don’t feel the impact of this as immediately as many others do).  However, I imagine that [...]

What Barack Obama said is a logical, truthful, and accurate argument about the alienation of a large part of American society. This argument was explored in-depth in the book What’s the Matter With Kansas. His phrasing was poor, which has consistently been the down fall of Democrats (see everything that spilled out of John Kerry’s [...]

As part of the Kyoto Protocol, an international market was created to trade pollution credits. One of the companies that has arisen to take advantage of that market is EcoSecurities Ltd., a United Kingdom based company that helps industrialized countries meet their obligations to pollute less by selling them credits that fund clean-air projects in [...]

Last week, Nathaniel first covered Gov. Granholm’s initiative to bring Hollywood to Michigan. Today she released her official press release. Yesterday, Governor Granholm signed sixteen bills that make Michigan the best place in the United States to make movies. The bills offer tax incentives to film, television, and digital media crews to base productions in Michigan [...]

A fascinating new NYT article published today (worth reading if only to read Granholm’s quote “‘Nafta and Cafta have given us the shafta,’”) gives a Jekyll-and-Hyde account of how globalization has brought both high-paying new jobs and mass unemployment to Michigan, varying based on town. While towns like Holland, Michigan have reaped the benefits of [...]

Lost in the discussion of presidential politics, Zimbabwe and China, Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve and Washington’s most underrated power-player delivered his periodic report to the Congressional Joint Economic Committee  It was a bleak assessment.  He warned that GNP could contract over the first two quarters of 2008.  For those scoring at home that would meet [...]

How do you revitalize Michigan’s economy? Focus on the auto industry? No. Retool factories to crank out wind turbines? No. Bring in the expertise of Michael Bay? Naturally! Last week the State Senate and House passed bills to bring the movie industry to Michigan. These bills are considered the most generous in the entire nation for [...]