Sponsored by Northwood University’s Forum for Citizenship and Enterprise and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.
Occupational licensing is now the biggest issue in labor economics, with even more of an effect than unions. On a national basis 25 percent of all Americans need the government’s permission and specific credentials before they can work. That is more than twice as many people who are members of unions—11 percent and declining—and 25 times the number who earn the minimum wage.
There's little truly "progressive" about Progressivism. True progress happens when humans are free, yet the Progressive agenda substantially diminishes freedom while promising the unachievable. Based on his recent book—Lawrence Reed will tackle many of the most common economic, philosophic and historical errors of “progressive” ideology.
Under current Michigan law, Tesla Motors and other car companies may not open showrooms or service centers to work directly with consumers. Instead, to operate in Michigan, car companies have to enter into franchise agreements with independent dealers. Telsa and at least one other start-up car company, Elio Motors, have stated that working through dealers would impair their ability to get into the market. A number of other states have recently moved to permit direct distribution by manufacturers. Professor Crane will lay out the case for direct distribution, showing its importance to innovation, competition, and consumer choice.
The Mackinac Center for Public Policy invites you to join us for our 2015 Legacy Society Luncheon with special guest Jay Nordlinger of National Review.
The Mackinac Center for Public Policy announces our 2015 Planning for Life Workshops around Michigan.
Public workers in Michigan pay hundreds or thousands of dollars per year in dues to unions, but it’s very difficult for workers to find out how that money is being spent. The reason is that Michigan has weak reporting requirements for government unions, asking for only a few numbers on spending in broad categories. Under this system, union members cannot assess if their union is spending their dues money wisely or not.
The Mackinac Center for Public Policy and Northwood University Forum for Citizenship & Enterprise cordially invite you to join us in celebrating Milton Friedman Legacy Day 2015.
The Mackinac Center for Public Policy announces our 2015 Planning for Life Workshops around Michigan.
The Mackinac Center for Public Policy announces our 2015 Planning for Life Workshops around Michigan.
The Mackinac Center’s Arthur N. Rupe Foundation Debate will address the question of whether individuals who donate to nonprofit organizations or political issues should be able to maintain their privacy.
Civil asset forfeiture is a legal process by which allows the police to seize and sell private property, even if no crime has been charged against the owner of that property. Several states have recently reformed their civil asset forfeiture laws, and Eric Holder, the U.S. Attorney General, has called for improving federal laws pertaining to this practice.
Many middle-class Michiganders think that most low-performing schools are located in poor inner cities such as Detroit, not in their nice neighborhoods or in their smaller towns. They need to think again.
On May 5th Michigan voters will vote on Proposal 1, a constitutional amendment and series of bills that will go into effect if the amendment is approved. A large piece of the proposal is raising the sales tax...
Please join the Mackinac Center for Public Policy for a Club Mackinac event in Grand Rapids, as we welcome Timothy P. Carney, senior political columnist at the Washington Examiner, a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and the author of two books: The Big Ripoff, and Obamanomics.
Featuring Michael Q. McShane, a research fellow in education policy studies at AEI.
Michigan’s vast, disorganized criminal law inherently places residents at risk of unintentionally violating a growing array of regulatory crimes that are difficult to discover and understand. The complexity of administrating such a criminal code threatens to divert scarce resources away from the enforcement of serious violent and property crimes. This event will feature ideas about how to protect Michigan residents from overcriminalization and improve the state’s criminal law.
Join AEI president Arthur Brooks for a discussion on the intersection between work, happiness, and human flourishing. This event is co-sponsored by The Mackinac Center, AEI, and Acton.
The Mackinac Center for Public Policy and partner organizations cordially invite you to join us in celebrating National School Choice Week with an event from 11 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Jan. 27, 2015, at the Capitol.
Please join the Mackinac Center for Public Policy in welcoming Daniel DiSalvo, assistant professor of Political Science at The City College of New York-CUNY and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute's Center for State and Local Leadership.
Occupational licensing has had a curious and unusual history both in the U.S. and other nations. During some periods it was virtually nonexistent, but now in the U.S., it is growing rapidly and has developed into a stealth form of regulation. Dr. Morris Kleiner, a nationally recognized expert on occupational licensure, will address this issue and provide answers to why some occupations became heavily regulated and others did not. In addition, he’ll outline the economic effects of occupational licensing on mobility, wage determination, prices and the quality of services delivered.
Please join us for a luncheon hosted by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and the Acton Institute.
Please join us for a luncheon celebrating the Mackinac Center's Legacy Society and featuring keynote speaker Kevin D. Williamson.
A necessary building block of a prosperous society is economic freedom. History shows that freer countries tend to become wealthier countries, with the United States typically leading the way. But is the United States moving in a different direction?
Dean Stansel, an economics professor at Florida Gulf Coast University, will discuss the current state of economic liberty in the United States. Stansel authors the Fraser Institute’s annual “Economic Freedom of North America” report, and will compare states by this measure. Finally, Stansel will assess how well Michigan supports economic freedom.
James Sherk, senior policy analyst in labor economics at The Heritage Foundation, will present on ways to mitigate the economic harms caused by a higher minimum wage and on ways to hold government unions more accountable to their members.
Our speakers will be Richard Dreyfuss, a senior fellow with the Commonwealth Foundation in Pennsylvania and Stephen D. Eide, senior fellow with the Center for State and Local Leadership at the Manhattan Institute in New York.
How states like Michigan can fix perennial pension problems will be the topic of this Issues and Ideas Forum. The featured speaker will be Dan Liljenquist, who spearheaded pension reforms in Utah while he served as a state senator. For his role in the Utah reforms, Liljenquist was named a 2011 “Public Official of the Year” by Governing Magazine, and has since a become national expert on this issue and highlighted by the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, among others outlets.
This Issues and Ideas Forum will present Mackinac Center findings from a review of more than 100 teachers union contracts, which analyzed the various ways school boards have attempted to comply with the 2011 reforms regarding teacher evaluations, placement and tenure. Our featured speaker will be Representative Ken Yonker, R-Caledonia, who will share his thoughts on the intent of the 2011 reforms and how districts have implemented them.
This Issues and Ideas Forum will look at the question from a free-market perspective. Our speakers will be Alex Nowrasteh, an immigration policy analyst at the Cato Institute, and Helen Krieble, founder and president of The Vernon K. Krieble Foundation and creator of the “Red Card Solution,” a plan that could curb illegal immigration by offering non-citizen work permits that do not lead to citizenship.
Featuring Lawrence W. Reed, president emeritus of the Mackinac Center and current president of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE).
Our guests will discuss the benefits of different, emerging models of educational options and what is possible for Michigan.
This Issues and Ideas Forum features Dr. Ted Bolema, a Mackinac Center adjunct scholar and senior policy editor for the Mercatus Center in Washington, D.C. who will make the case for why Michigan needs to give Michigan electricity customers more options.
This Issues and Ideas Forum features Paul Larkin of the Heritage Foundation, Marc Levin of the Texas Public Policy Foundation and Michael Reitz of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy who will discuss the need to define intent in Michigan criminal statutes.
Join Dr. Vedder for insights on this issue and hear his ideas to solve the high cost of a college education.
