MEDC President: LaFaive Is Right

Greg Main, president of the Michigan Economic Development Corp., told a Grand Rapids Press columnist that he agrees with Michael LaFaive, the Mackinac Center's fiscal policy director, that the MEDC should be more transparent.

The columnist detailed a recent study by LaFaive and James Hohman, fiscal policy analyst, that tracks the failure of the MEDC and its many programs, including the Michigan Economic Growth Authority and the Michigan Film Office. A portion of the study points out the growing lack of transparency the MEDC has exhibited in the face of growing state unemployment, as well as the revelation that less than 30 percent of "new" jobs promised by the agency have come to fruition.

Columnist Rick Haglund wrote that, "Although the Mackinac Center hasn't succeeded in getting the MEDC abolished, it's winning its battle to get the agency to become more transparent.

"Main said he agrees with the center's contention the MEDC should be required to release additional details about its programs."

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