MACKINAC ISLAND – The latest study to look at the nation’s most prosperous states shows the state should spend more effort on education, especially higher education, than on taxes if it wants to promote prosperity, officials from the think tank Michigan Future said Thursday.
The study, the third annual progress report prepared by the group, said that of the 8.3 million jobs lost nationally during the most recent recession, all but 400,000 were in occupations considered low education.
Unless a state has energy resources to sell, its only option is become a high-knowledge state, said Lou Glazer, president of the group. Ten of the 12 most prosperous states in 2008 also had the highest level of residents that had attended college.
Michigan is 34th in educational attainment and 32nd in the number of adults with college degrees, Mr. Glazer said, which is a major factor in the state seeing its per capita income fall from 18th in the nation to 36th.
But fixing that situation will be a long-term prospect, he said, taking literally decades to accomplish.
There is precedent for a region or state to turn itself around, Glazer said, pointing to Pittsburgh.
In fact, the conference had an event outlining how Pittsburgh changed from the steel making capital to a city focused on high tech businesses. At its nadir, the city had a higher unemployment rate than does Detroit now.
Changing the city required its research universities to help commercialize developments, and for local officials to work together to attract businesses to the region.
This story was provided by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on Gongwer.Com
a>>
