|
|
Results 1 to 38 for the year 1994
2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987
- Michigan Schools: Doing More With Less
What financially hobbles our schools is not a lack of money, but a lack of money management. Contracting with the private sector offers a promising solution.
- Should Michigan Become a Right-to-Work State?
Labor reform that brings Michigan law up-to-date is not something to be feared. Giving workers freedom of choice in union membership would be a plus for the Michigan economy.
- Political Drift or Paradigm Shift?
During the elections of 1994, the voters spoke with uncommon clarity about the role of government in their lives. Governor John Engler was re-elected to be a risk-taker, not a caretaker. In this advisory document, the Mackinac Center recommends several specific measures for education reform, labor law reform, and economic development. 5 pages.
- Ax the Package Tax
Advance disposal fees are taxes imposed on containers at either the distributor or the retail level and are likely to add more burdens than they relieve. Managing the waste stream effectively requires a reliance upon markets, not new taxes that make little economic sense.
- Understanding Charter Schools and the Constitution
Public Act 362 of 1993 authorized charter schools and did not violate the Michigan Constitution. Charter schools are a creative way to make changes within public schools. However, luring private schools into the public domain with tax dollars is a danger.
- States to Washington: Cease and Desist!
A burgeoning national movement to assert state sovereignty promises to mushroom into a crisis for the federal government if it refuses to live within its constitutional boundaries. Unfunded mandates are at the core of the controversy surrounding interpretations of the 10th Amendment.
- Doing More With Less: Competitive Contracting for School Support Services
Competitive contracting can provide schools with expertise, flexibility, and cost efficiencies not always available with in-house service provision. If they are properly designed and monitored, contracts between schools and private providers can help school administrators do more with less. Includes step-by-step guidelines for the "make or buy" decision, tells how to avoid pitfalls, and suggests measures for contractor evaluation. 26 pages.
- The Headlee Amendment: Alive and Well
Though certain initiatives are needed to clarify the law and ensure enforcement, the 1978 Headlee Amendment to the Michigan Constitution has worked reasonably well in limiting the growth of government.
- A Constitutional Convention Wish List
Our state constitution would be improved if it incorporated provisions to restrict the state's ability to dictate terms of private contracts, protect and enhance educational freedom, and limit regulatory "takings" of private property.
- Comparable Worth or Incomparably Worthless?
A comparable worth scheme imposed on the economy would arbitrarily abolish the role of supply and demand in the labor market. Markets set wages better than any artificial, political contrivance could ever hope to.
- Does Michigan Need a Constitutional Convention?
Michigan voters decide this year whether they want to call a convention for the purposes of revising the state's constitution. The dangers of a general rewrite of our state's basic governing document exceed any potential benefit.
- "Discrimination" at Private Clubs in Michigan
What was conceived as a protection for women in Michigan country clubs has become another entry on a long list of meddlesome and ultimately counterproductive restrictions on personal freedom.
- Public Housing: Subsidies or Vouchers?
The moral, economic, and constitutional case for the federal government's involvement in housing is dubious at best, but the way it conducts its housing business now requires changes.
- Not One Cent for Tributes in Lansing
The Michigan legislature regularly spends taxpayers' money on resolutions of tribute for an array of special interests, individuals and groups.
- Medicaid Reform: Giving Michigan's Poor a Chance
Privatizing Medicaid through the use of vouchers would reduce state expenditures, improve service quality, and provide greater access to health care for the needy.
- Must Teachers Pay for Union "Image Building"?
An effort by the Michigan Education Association to extract an assessment from its members for a public relations campaign runs afoul of Supreme Court decisions protecting workers' rights.
- Should the Blues Buy the Accident Fund?
The state of Michigan should privatize its workers compensation insurer, but not by selling it to a quasi-public entity that enjoys many government-granted privileges.
- Beyond Deinstitutionalization: Mental Health Reform in Michigan
Michigan's mental health reforms are relying on creative ways to place patients in compassionate community settings, and cutting loose local governments and private providers from inefficient state-run programs.
- A Moving Experience
State regulations exist that stifle competition, protect inefficiency, and encourage movers to "call the cops" on each other. It's time to open the market up to competition and consumer choice.
- Private Efforts, Public Benefits
- Solving Problems in Unemployment Insurance
Two Central Michigan University professors argue that the unemployment insurance system is costly, bureaucratic, out-of-date, and in trouble. One solution is a privatized system of voluntary, tax-exempt Individual Unemployment Accounts.
- Science vs. the Chlorine Scare
Proposals to ban the chemical chlorine represent environmental extremism. Wild claims unsubstantiated by scientific evidence should not become the foundation of our public policy.
- The Limits of Compulsory Professionalism: Does a Unified Bar Make Sense for Michigan?
No profession other than the practice of law, in Michigan or any other state, requires membership in a professional organization to maintain a license. This practice, known as the unified bar, has been the subject of litigation in a number of states. Practicing attorney and Law Professor Bradley A. Smith and attorney Alan Falk note that nineteen states have voluntary bar associations, and compare their operation to the "unified" (involuntary) associations. They find that compulsory bar membership provides no greater benefits than those provided by voluntary bar associations. 26 pages.
- The Other Educational Choice
Exempting Michigan's public school teachers from the Public Employment Relations Act would resolve the strike issue, remove barriers union policies have erected, and open the door for the advancement of good teachers.
- Biotechnology: From the Blackboard to the Barnyard
Michigan dairy farmers who put cutting-edge research to work on the farm should beware: some people don't think that cows and science make a good combination. Will the public embrace science and economics or emotion and scare-talk masquerading as "environmentalism"?
- Discrimination at Private Clubs in Michigan: Freedom of Association After Public Act 70
In recent years, a cherished American right, freedom of association, has come into conflict with laws designed to prevent discrimination by private organizations. Michigan's Public Act 70 of 1992 is one such law. Examining P.A. 70, as well as Michigan's famed Elliot-Larsen law, University of Detroit Law Professor Stephen J. Safranek finds that the act was unnecessary, misdirected, and economically harmful. Individual consumers of club services are the real losers. P.A. 70 is government intervention without regard to the right of private clubs to engage in freedom of association. 16 pages.
- Confronting Urban Sprawl: How Cities and Suburbs Can Both Win
Detroit and other urban centers need a strategy that will address the urban sprawl problem and offer economic prosperity and growth opportunities to both cities and suburbs. That strategy must include reducing tax burdens and alleviating costly environmental regulations.
- Charter Schools in Michigan: Unfinished Business
Michigan's recent charter school legislation, a well-intentioned effort to introduce market forces into public education, suffers from stifling rules and regulations.
- Protecting the Public from Competition
Michigan's bureaucratic regulation of the intrastate trucking industry is not intended to protect the general public from harm. Rather, it is intended to protect existing truckers from aggressive competition in a free market. The sad case of a Grand Rapids company, Federal Armored, proves it.
- When Opposites Attract: Public Schools and Private Enterprise
Without additional spending, school administrators can take advantage of private sector expertise, accountability, and cost-effectiveness for public education.
- The Christmas Eve Hijacking
The Michigan legislature squandered an opportunity to reform education when it arrived at a Christmas Eve "compromise" package that largely reaffirmed the status quo-a watered-down charter school program, limited parental choice, and almost no cost containment.
- Sales vs. Income Taxes: The Verdict of Economists
The March 15, 1994, statewide ballot question asked voters to weigh the pros and cons of school finance. The central question was this: Which does the least economic harm-the sales tax or the income tax? Economist Dean Stansel maintains that theory and empirical evidence suggest that consumption taxes are less deleterious than taxes on income, investment, and savings. Connecticut imposed a new income tax in 1991 and economic growth evaporated and job opportunities and population declined. We should learn from the experience of states with high income taxes. 9 pages.
- The Rise and Fall of Michigan Cities
Michigan's growth cities during the 1980s were also the ones that taxed and spent the least, while the state's declining cities taxed and spent the most. Detroit's dramatic decline was due in part to a tax burden seven times higher than the average Michigan municipality.
- The Most Expensive Lottery Tickets in the Country?
Thanks to a 1937 law requiring state printing be done according to "prevailing wages," Michigan pays one-third more for printing lottery tickets than Indiana, Kentucky, and New York. Repealing it would save taxpayers more than $2 million.
- The Power of Positive Example
In this transcription of his May 1994 Commencement address at Central Michigan University, Mackinac Center for Public Policy
President Lawrence Reed argues that it is counterproductive to try to reform the world by force or political decree while allowing our
own personal lives to fall into disrepair.The best way to win others to a worthy cause is to serve as an attractive beacon instead of a
hypocritical pontificator. Makes a great gift for graduates.10 pages.
- Making Schools Work: Contracting Options for Better Management
Can America's public schools be improved? Unquestionably. Without additional spending, school administrators can take advantage of the expertise of the private sector, introducing innovations that will make a world of difference. This study reveals dozens of examples of private companies now providing management, instructional, and support services to public schools across America. A must-read for anyone interested in changing public education by putting competition and the profit motive to work. 28 pages.
- The Spirit of Freedom: Essays in American History
Over 20 provocative essays describe many of the most glorious and notorious episodes in American history, originally published in The Freeman by the Foundation for Economic Education.
You will read about America's earliest fling with socialism, which led to starvation in the Plymouth Massachusetts colony-until they turned to private property; and the inspiring story of Quaker William Penn, the first person to help promote freedom on two continents. Several essays discuss the much maligned "robber baron" entrepreneurs who contributed to prosperity during the late 19th century. 212 pages.
- Patient Power
Results 1 to 38 for the year 1994
2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987
Copyright 2005 Mackinac Center for Public Policy
Processed in 0.031 seconds
|
|
