News Release: State Attorney General Agrees That Michigan Film Office Violated State Law by Failing to Disclose Required Film Spending Information
AG’s letter is released during Michigan Senate hearing this afternoon; Film Office finally produces data legally required in earlier report
News Release: Film Office Report Violates Michigan Law and the Spirit of Sunshine Week
Office’s annual report fails to provide legally required film spending details and presents figures that appear to significantly overstate Michigan Film Incentive’s impact
UVL Data, Migration Study Underscore Michigan Troubles
The Mackinac Center has long recommended a “Big Three” of tide-turning policies: Eliminate the Michigan Business Tax, prohibit employers from mandating union membership as a condition of employment and rein in oppressive regulation. … more
The Wizard of Oz Has No Clothes
The answer is simple: Politicians don’t care about job creation as much as they care about the perception of it. … more
Study: 19,000 Michigan Jobs Jeopardized by Proposed 2 Percent Excise Tax on Services
Investments in the state will decline and revenues are likely to fall short of projections, tax experts estimate
Lansing Businesswoman Receives Mackinac Center “Lives, Fortunes and Sacred Honor Award”
Kurdziel helped set stage for constitutional amendment that strengthens the rights of property owners across Michigan
Study Finds Cabela’s Has No County Jobs Impact
State should avoid targeted incentives even to large and successful businesses, say Center analysts
Data Show Michigan is #1 in Resident Departures
Mackinac Center Calls for Tax Cuts, Labor Reform to Stem Flow of Residents
Michigan Should End Its Tax Favoritism
Supremes let MEGA program off hook, but lawmakers still can act
Globalization: What a Wonderful World
Despite Michigan’s recent economic woes, in 2004 it exported $35 billion worth of goods and services to the world, ranking it fourth among the states, up from sixth place in 1998. … more
Bad Food at a Good Price!
Imagine a restaurant with second-rate food, surly waiters, slow
service and high prices. When the manager sees a customer getting restless, he rushes over and offers a 15 percent price cut. … more
MEGA: 10 Years With Little To Show
MEGA’s attempt to pick winners and losers is a poor substitute for improving the fundamentals of Michigan’s business climate. … more
Extensive Study of Michigan Economic Growth Authority Finds Weak Track Record and No Significant Economic Effects
Approaching authority’s 10th birthday, econometric model finds no net state- or county-level impact; authors question MEGA job figures
MEGA: A Retrospective Assessment
April 18, 2005 marks the 10th anniversary of The Michigan Economic Growth Authority, a program established by Michigan government with the mission of spurring in-state job creation and business investment. The authority is the state of Michigan’s agent for selecting firms to receive Single Business Tax credits in return for creating new facilities and jobs in Michigan. … more
Her Own Personal Autoworld (Viewpoint of Public Issues)
More than 50 years of economic development history in Michigan should be enough to convince us that the economic development emperor has no clothes. … more
Michigan at the Crossroads
The world economy is relentlessly, ruthlessly competitive. Michigan has no entitlement to a healthy economic future. Unless Lansing finds the courage to abandon “business‑as‑usual,” the state’s economy — and the people of Michigan — will fall further and further behind. … more
“Milking the Cow” of State Development Departments (Viewpoint on Public Issues)
We cannot lose sight of the fact that selective favors discriminate against those who do not receive them and distract policymakers from the broader business-climate reforms that would benefit everybody. … more
Going Broke by Degree
I have looked carefully at the relationship between economic growth and state spending on universities. I found a strong negative relationship — higher state spending equals lower rates of economic growth. … more
The Record of “Economic Development” Policy in Michigan
Between 1995 and 2003, Michigan finished 51st among the 50 states and the District of Columbia in employment growth. … more
Recommendations to Strengthen Civil Society and Balance Michigan’s State Budget — 2nd Edition
An Analysis of Fiscal-Year 2003-04 Appropriations and Recommendations for 2004-05. … more
Jobs Outsourcing: Beneficial Trade by Another Name
Outsourcing greatly lowers our cost of consumption, raises our standard of living tremendously and directly supports
many jobs. … more
How to Make Cities “Cool”
Our state and its city governments would do better to focus on their more important functions (schools, roads and public safety, for example), which are often carried out in ways that are anything but cool. … more
Michigan’s Primary Land-Use Plan a Failure
By every measure, Michigan remains largely a rural state. More than 18 million of Michigan’s 36 million acres is forestland, a share that has actually grown by 2 million acres in the past 20 years. … more
Michigan's Farmland Preservation Program: An Assessment
An Examination of the Effectiveness of Michigan’s Principal Farmland Preservation Program, and Recommendations for Reform
Michigan’s principal land preservation program has failed to achieve its goals. … more
Recommendations to Strengthen Civil Society and Balance Michigan's State Budget
An Analysis of Fiscal-Year 2002-03 Appropriations and Recommendations for 2003-04
If Gov. Jennifer Granholm and the Michigan Legislature need specifics on how to close Michigan’s looming $1.7 billion budget deficit, they need look no further than the Mackinac Center for Public Policy’s new report on balancing the state budget, released today.
More than 200 specific recommendations from Mackinac Center analysts total more than $2 billion in cost savings and revenue enhancements. All budget reductions, including those involving federal funds, total $3.7 billion. 157 pages. … more
More than 200 specific recommendations from Mackinac Center analysts total more than $2 billion in cost savings and revenue enhancements. All budget reductions, including those involving federal funds, total $3.7 billion. 157 pages. … more
A Lesson from Great Britain
For a visitor to give every exhibit the
attention it deserved would have required 200 hours in the
building. … more
Historic Preservation for Strip Malls?
Surely, no property owner can be expected to underwrite the private operations of tenants who are running fledgling businesses that may not be able to survive in the marketplace of supply and demand. … more
The Federal "Freedom Car": Back to the Future
Government's Car of Tomorrow Relies on Yesterday's Failed Policies
Based on a speech given by Michael LaFaive June 22, 2002, at Northwood University's annual "Freedom Seminar" in Midland. … more
Industrial Policy Interview on Michigan Public Radio
Mackinac Center for Public Policy Staff Economist Michael LaFaive talks about industrial policy in an interview with Michigan Public Radio. … more
Is Next Energy the Next Energy Boondoggle?
Promoting energy R&D in Michigan does not require yet another government bureaucracy allocating favors to firms willing to relocate to state-owned property. … more
The Effect of Right-to-Work Laws on Economic Development
The right to decide for yourself whether or not to support a union in your workplace: union officials dismiss it as "the right to starve", but for the last thirty years Right-to-Work states have been outperforming compuslory unionism states such as Michigan. This report demonstrates how individual freedom and higher productivity give workers in Right-to-Work states the edge in job opportunities, employment, and purchasing power. … more
Keeping Michigan on Track:
A Blueprint for a Freer, More Prosperous State
New legislative opportunities will come with the fall elections for the Michigan House, Senate, and governorship. Read the Mackinac Center's policy recommendations for the next Legislature and governor below. … more
