Economics | ModeShift

Mode Shift Postcards From Around The Nation

by Keith SchneiderJune 4, 2007June 4, 20070

Â Â Though it’s completely understandable why the triple whammy of rising peak oilÂ energy prices, global climate change, and record population growth might get you down, here are a number of promising Mode Shift trends that indicate the end is not nigh. Singles now head the majority of American households and are repopulating America’s great cities. This from Baltimore, according to the May 29, 2007 edition of the Baltimore Sun: “Across Baltimore, single women – old …

The Michigan Crisis: Ideology Not Intelligence

by Keith SchneiderJune 3, 2007June 4, 20072

Â Late on the Friday night before the Memorial Day weekend, Republican and Democratic lawmakers in Michigan reached agreement with Democratic Governor Jennifer M. Granholm on a very temporary fix to close an $800 million state budget deficit. The deficit, for those who might be unfamiliar, is what happens whenÂ what the state earns in tax revenue doesn’t keep up with what itÂ spends on programs.Â Next fall theÂ crisis worsens when lawmakers look down the raw throat of …

Why Cities Are Thriving

by Keith SchneiderJune 2, 2007June 4, 20071

Â Packaged Facts,Â a usefulÂ site for keeping track of demographic and economic trends, just published an analysis of US Census figures that concludes singles now head the largest number of American households.Â For years demographers have documented the declining size of the US household and the rising number of total American households.Â Now we find that the single person is the majority.Â Â Packaged Facts found that “America’s 89.6 million singles head over half of America’s households â€” 50.3%, …

Pangea’s Biodegradable Package; Just Plant and Grow

by Keith SchneiderMay 30, 2007May 31, 20071

Here’s a name worth paying attention to in the space whereÂ sustainable business practices and the non-profit sector cross.Â He is Joshua Scott Onysko, a 30-year-old native of Rhode Island who turned a bonding experience with his mother making organic soap into Pangea Organics, a very successful Boulder-based manufacturer of organic body and skin care products. I first learned of Onysko and Pangea Organics from a friend in Saugatuck who was as enthusastic about the company’s all …

At $5 A Gallon, Gas Prices Will Be The Issue In 2008 Campaign

by Keith SchneiderMay 29, 2007May 30, 20076

Remember in the 2004 presidential campaign when George W. Bush and John Kerry briefly sparred over the price of gas?Â Democrats predictably blamed “Big Oil” and promised Congressional investigations.Â Republicans blamedÂ Democrats and environmentalists for blocking efforts to build more refineries and drill for more oil, especially in Alaska. The tussle failed to attract more than the attention of a couple of political reporters. Why? Gas prices nationally were $1.80 a gallon, and only in California did they …

Cities Punch Above Their Weight Economically

by Keith SchneiderMay 23, 2007May 30, 20071

Â Here areÂ two more reasonsÂ why Michigan and the American Midwest are slipping to backwater status in the United States, and whyÂ we can’t give up on the capacity of our governor and state lawmakers toÂ helpÂ work Michigan out of its economic mess.Â Fact one, according to a new analysis by the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution:Â Six of theÂ 80 old industrial cities lagging far behind in economic performance, population growth, job creation, and business development are …

Inc. Magazine Hot Cities: Not One in Upper Midwest

by Keith SchneiderMay 18, 2007June 24, 20073

The annual tally ofÂ AmericanÂ “Boom Towns” in the May issue ofÂ Inc. MagazineÂ includes not one –Â repeat, not a single large, midsize, or small cityÂ in the Great Lakes regionÂ that qualifies amongÂ the nation’s top generators of new jobs. If the entire Midwest is considered, the only two cities that sneak onto the list are Springfield, Missouri (ranked # 20 among midsize cities) and Dubuque, Iowa (#15 among small cities).Â The list does include some of our favorite Mode Shift …

Barack Steps Gingerly Into the Realm of A Weakened Beast

by Keith SchneiderMay 8, 2007June 18, 20140

Democratic presidential candidate and Illinois Senator Barack ObamaÂ skipped across the big pond on Tuesday and landed in Detroit, where he stirred a modest amount of interest by scolding American auto makers for letting the Japanese take command of the industry, and then offering a federal hand in contributing to the industry’sÂ health care costs in exchange forÂ convincing auto makers to increase fuel efficiency by about 1 mile a gallon per year.Â [youtube]GpYkCNohmf8[/youtube] Big deal. Both ideas …

The Proximate Principle: Open Space is Sound Fiscal Policy

by Keith SchneiderMay 7, 2007May 7, 20073

Â People adore parks.Â Most people also love open space. That applies even to the three Grand Traverse (MI) County commissioners who last month suggested that global climate change was a leftist conspiracy ginned up by Al Gore, and suggested that emailing the sun was a useful antidote.Â A comprehensive study by the San Francisco-based Trust For Public Land, published in early March,Â Â found sound economic evidence forÂ why regions thatÂ embrace an aggressiveÂ program of park development and open …

California Governor Tracks Back, Says He Supports High Speed Rail

by Keith SchneiderMay 6, 2007May 6, 20071

Â The push back by the old and new media to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposal to cut state funds to the agency overseeing the development of a 700-mile high speed rail network in California appears to have influenced the Republican governor’s view. On Friday, Schwarzenegger (see pix) published an op-ed in the Fresno Bee extolling a high speed system. Thanks to Marcel Marchon’s Trainblog for keeping us current. “The promise of high-speed rail is incredible,” wrote …