There’s no good reason Michigan’s economic development corp should exist

By Michael D. Lafaive | Michigan Capitol Confidential

“There is only one conclusion to be drawn from a broader analysis of Michigan’s place in the world in the year 2001 — never before have we been so economically strong. Never before should we be so confident about our future.” – Doug Rothwell, then president and CEO (and current chair of MEDC Executive Committee) of the Michigan Economic Development Corp., March 2001.

This might be called Mr. Rothwell’s, ”Prosperity in Our Time,” speech (or perhaps his “Blown Away” one): Over the following 153 months, Michigan’s unemployment rate was never lower than the 4.7 percent rate prevailing on the day he spoke.

Instead, the trend was decidedly bad with unemployment eventually topping out at 14.2 percent in 2009. Today, Michigan’s unemployment rate remains a troublesome 8.4 percent.

at Michigan Capitol Confidential.

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