Tonight, December 29, 2010, at 8 P.M., WKAR-TV presents 'An Evening with Gov. Granholm'. This will be Jennifer Granholm's last interview as Michigan's Democratic Governor. It was conducted by Tim Skubick, host of the public affairs program "Off the Record."
For details on this program, when you can watch it again, and how you can watch it if you are outside of Michigan, along with other political news originated by Michigan's research universities this month, follow me over the jump.
Crossposted to Michigan Liberal.
From the Michigan State University press release:
Recorded at the governor’s residence on Dec. 17, the program also will be seen on public television stations throughout the state (check local listings). It also will be re-broadcast on WKAR at 11 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 31; and at 11 p.m. Monday, Jan. 3, on WKAR World.
The governor will discuss her eight years in office, provide insight to the position's challenges, and reflect on the highlights and difficulties during her administration. During the second half of the program, she is joined by First Gentleman Dan Mulhern.
"This is the governor’s final exit interview," said Skubick, who has covered her for the past 12 years – four as attorney general and eight as governor. "She saved the last one for us and it is the only one being produced at the executive mansion."
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The program will be available for online viewing at video.wkar.org immediately following the Dec. 29 broadcast and for purchase on DVD.
Farewell Governor Granholm!
Also from Michigan State University this month comes this news.
White House press secretaries at podium for MPLP
Two former White House press secretaries will headline 2011’s Michigan Political Leadership Program dinner and breakfast.
Mike McCurry, White House press secretary to President Bill Clinton, and Dana Perino, White House press secretary to President George W. Bush, will speak at back-to-back MPLP events Feb. 10 in Livonia and Feb. 11 in Grand Rapids.
"This is an excellent time to welcome Mike McCurry and Dana Perino," said Douglas Roberts, director of MSU’s Institute for Public Policy and Social Research, which runs MPLP. "They are in a unique position to reflect on the election just past and to look into the future to Election 2012."
The breakfast and dinner are open to the public. The events annually draw one of the largest nonpartisan crowds in the state and raise majority support for MPLP fellowships
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Event tickets are $150 each. Tables for 10 are $1,500, and sponsorships at all levels are available. To purchase tickets online, go to http://www.ippsr.msu.edu/...
For more information, call MPLP Administrator Linda Cleary at 517-353-0891, or email her at clearyl@msu.edu.
Mark your calenders.
The University of Michigan contributed more than its share of policy and economic studies in December.
Mortgage defaults at lowest levels in five years
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Default risk on home loans fell once again this quarter to its lowest level in more than five years, says a professor at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business.
Dennis Capozza, professor of finance and real estate and the Dykema Professor of Business Administration, says that under current economic conditions, investors and lenders should expect defaults on loans currently being originated to be just slightly higher than mortgage defaults in early 2005.
Capozza's UFA Default Risk Index, which measures the risk of default on newly originated prime and nonprime mortgages by tracking local and national economic conditions, registered 143 during the current quarter.
This means that homeowners are 43 percent more likely to default on their loans than the average of loans originated in the 1990s—but still much less likely than the worst years of the economic downturn from 2006 to 2008. The peak level of 362 was set in 2007.
Good news, but don't expect a turnaround in housing prices just yet.
Researchers skeptical about bank taxes, regulations still needed
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Taxes on executive bonuses, financial transactions and excess profits are a few of the taxes proposed or enacted to punish banks for their role in the recent financial crisis, but most of these ideas have shortcomings, says a University of Michigan economist.
"A number of potentially complicated and ambitious new taxes on the financial sector are currently being discussed," said Joel Slemrod, professor of economics and the Paul W. McCracken Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy at Michigan's Ross School of Business. "While the recent financial crisis shows how important it is to consider whether such instruments might help to improve incentives, reform efforts should not unduly focus on the exotic and new at the expense of the familiar and old.
"Addressing undesirable incentives within the existing income tax may be as or more important as creating new tax instruments."
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They say that even if fairly well-designed tax instruments are adopted, the key incentive problem that gave rise to the financial crisis—excessive risk-taking by firms and managers that did not face the entire downside—will likely remain.
As a result, government regulation of the banking and finance industry will continue to be necessary, the researchers say.
The research was published in the National Tax Journal. Rational lawmakers would pay attention. I'm not sure that the majority of lawmakers elected to Lansing and Washington are that rational. One could always hope.
U-M professors contribute to presidential report on America's energy system
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Two University of Michigan professors contributed to a White House report this week that calls for the United States to craft a government-wide federal energy policy and update it regularly with strategic reviews every four years.
The report provides a roadmap for the federal role in transforming the U.S. energy system within one to two decades—a transformation that is necessary, the report concludes, for reasons of economic competitiveness, environmental stewardship and national security.
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Some of the recommendations in the report, titled "Accelerating the Pace of Change in Energy Technologies Through an Integrated Federal Energy Policy," directly address universities. For example, the report calls for creating training-grant programs at universities similar to those in place at the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation. Programs modeled after NIH and NSF would help address critical energy workforce needs by supporting graduate students and curriculum development in areas such as energy storage, power electronics and related information technology and social science research.
The scientists are members of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology(PCAST), part of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
The executive summary is here (PDF), the full report is here (PDF), and the video of the press conference is here.
Local leaders open to regional partnerships--maybe
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Government leaders in struggling communities across the state tend to be open to combining services with other towns, a new University of Michigan study finds.
However, government officials who favor expanding regional planning are less supportive of working through existing regional institutions—they want to create new entities to pursue cooperation, said Elisabeth Gerber, a professor at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.
"Regional planning offers local governments an opportunity to combine resources and make land use and development decisions that take into account the impacts on the region as a whole," said Gerber, who co-authored the study with Carolyn Loh, a graduate of Michigan's urban planning doctoral program and now an assistant professor in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at Wayne State University. "With shrinking city budgets, local leaders are eager to find more efficient and effective ways of providing vital government services."
During the current state of crisis both in Michigan and around the nation, we need to keep our minds open to innovative and practical solutions available to keep local government working for the people.
Study: People are more willing to give when they can empathize with poor women's plight
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Non-profits aiding the sick or poor could increase charitable donations through ads in which consumers empathize with an actor portraying an unfortunate plight.
A new study by researchers at the University of Michigan, Westminster College and University of North Carolina looks at observers' reaction to a poor woman's emotions when asking for assistance.
The study's participants who viewed the ad had negative emotions toward a woman who expressed anger about being poor.
When the woman expressed shame about her economic status, viewers had more positive emotions—such as pride and confidence—and a willingness to donate money to the charity, the study indicates.
Keep this study in mind when marketing progressive messages, or when analyzing the marketing messages of conservatives.
Wayne State University also contributed to this month's political discussion.
Wayne State University announces 2011 Community Leadership Awards
WSU Math Corps and Corktown Residents' Council President Jeff DeBruyn to be honored
Wayne State University's Office of Government and Community Affairs announces the 2011 Community Leadership Awards. This year's recipients include the WSU Math Corps and Jeff DeBruyn, president of the Corktown Residents Council.
The awards honor individuals and organizations - nominated by the public - whose contributions positively affect the community. Winners will be recognized during the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Tribute at the Max M. Fisher Music Center on Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2011.
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Jeff DeBruyn is president of the Corktown Residents Council and a partner and founder of the Imagination Station of Roosevelt Park (facethestation.com), a nonprofit organization that engages residents to restore and renovate blighted areas throughout Corktown. He also serves as a peacekeeper at Manna Community Meal soup kitchen, and is a staff member at the Day House shelter for women and children in Corktown.
Progressives need to work on local community solutions as well as statewide and national political ones.
Purchasing Managers Index dips to 54.2 in November
Southeast Michigan economy still growing despite a slowdown
The Southeast Michigan Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) dropped to 54.2 in November, suggesting that Metro Detroit's economy continued to grow over the past month but at a slower rate than October. The October PMI was 67.1.
The Southeast Michigan PMI is a composite index of local economic activity. It is calculated from a monthly survey of purchasing managers administered by faculty from the School of Business Administration at Wayne State University and the local chapter of the Institute for Supply Management. A score above 50 indicates economic expansion. The higher the score is above 50, the faster the growth rate.
Key indicators such as production, new orders and employment showed slower growth rates in Metro Detroit during the month of November. While this is not favorable, over time the Southeast Michigan PMI is sustaining growth, scoring above 50 for 10 consecutive months.
Not great news, but good news nonetheless. The local economy is recovering. Keep that in mind for your next political argument.
Last, but not least, Wayne State has news about the incoming Governor.
From balance sheets to a balanced budget: Michigan Gov.-Elect Rick Snyder shares his insights with accounting students at Dec. 9 Wayne State lecture
Wayne State University's School of Business Administration and Department of Accounting will host the annual George R. Husband Distinguished Lecture Series with Michigan Gov.-Elect Rick Snyder, who will deliver the keynote address on reinventing Michigan's economy. Snyder is the first CPA to be elected governor of Michigan. He will address an audience of primarily Wayne State students who are studying accounting and taxation as well as business and community leaders. Snyder will speak about how the accounting profession is particularly relevant today given Michigan's economic challenges, and will recount his personal journey from the private sector to the state capitol in Lansing.
Governor-elect Snyder gave his speech on December 9th, but you can watch it in the following video.
Michigan's Governor-elect Rick Snyder presents the School of Business Administration's 2010 George R. Husband Distinguished Lecture to accounting students and others from the campus community on December 9, 2010.
http://business.wayne.edu/
Keep your eyes on the incoming Republican governor, foremost to keep him accountable, but also in case he actually does something right.