Rick Haglund writes, “Motor vehicles and parts as a percentage of the state’s gross domestic product has fallen from 25% in the late 1960s to about 7% in 2018, according to data compiled by Michigan State University economist Charles Ballard. But the state’s economy needs to become even more diverse.”
Economy
“[…] Can rural economies be saved? We’re living in an increasingly urban world where talent and wealth are concentrating in large metropolitan areas. Rural America is growing older and getter poorer. Various policy efforts on the state and federal levels over the past several decades have not lifted that trend line.”
The plight of residents in mobile home communities has caught the attention of state and federal lawmakers, who are working to craft legislation that would safeguard the rights of homeowners while helping to keep rents affordable. So far, the results have been mixed.
Columnist Stephanie Chang writes, “The COVID-19 pandemic has wrought financial havoc on many. It has magnified the systemic sexism and racism in housing and has the potential to leave millions of people — especially women and their families — homeless come February, unless we take quick action.”
A new report from Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan research institute, shows that 613,000 adults in Michigan — 9% of the state’s adults— say their household doesn’t have enough to eat.
Representatives of the bus and motorcoach industry say the small businesses responsible for helping individuals, families and companies move were overlooked by Congress when it passed the CARES Act. The act provided $2 trillion in relief in the wake of the coronavirus shutdown.
Michigan came in 28th highest in a new study by the WalletHub website that shows where small businesses have struggled most due to the coronavirus pandemic, based on three key dimensions.