Land O Links
"Cleverness is not wisdom" -- Euripides, playwright of ancient Greece.
* Jack Lessenberry takes to the realm of Dome Magazine to explain why Michigan's feeble campaign finance laws can't put the interests of the few over the intentions of the many:
http://domemagazine.com/lessenberry/jl020312
* In a column in the New York Times, Christina Romer, who formerly headed President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, made reference to some research on public investment strategies to help communities hurt by large factory closures or other economic shocks -- research produced by Tim Bartik of the Upjohn Institute in Kalamazoo. For the complete report, click below:
http://www.hamiltonproject.org/files/downloads_and_links/FinalBartik_DiscussPaper_Oct2010.pdf
* That's one way to wrestle township hall. Bridge readers may recall this guest column from a critic of plans in Saugatuck Township by a development firm -- Singapore Dunes -- to build on dunes along Lake Michigan. In my email inbox this week came a missive about an effort to push a government consolidation of Douglas, Saugatuck and, yep, Saugatuck Township. Of the approximately $60,000 raised for this effort in 2011, $10,000 came from Singapore Dunes.
* The Michigan Public Service Commission is required to report on the state of electric choice and competition policies in the state. One finding in the most recent report: "Michigan’s weighted average residential retail rate was below the national average from 2001 to 2008 and has been above the national average since 2009. Similarly,Michiganwas below the 10 largest average from 2000 to 2009 and has been above the 10 largest average since 2010."
http://www.dleg.state.mi.us/mpsc/electric/restruct/reports/compreport2011.pdf
* Something called the Corporation for Economic Development does a scorecard on financial security by states. In its latest review, Michigan ranks 30th. In 2005, Michigan was 25th in the review. The color-coded map is quite interesting. The farther south you go, the worse the rankings are.
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