RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Bruce Katz and Judith Rodin, January 20, 2012, The Atlantic Cities
Bruce Katz and Judith Rodin describe two initiatives – one in Northeast Ohio and one in the Puget Sound region – that draw on their areas’ distinct economic assets to spur innovation and help create jobs. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Jennifer Bradley and Richard Shearer, September 15, 2011, The Brookings Institution
A supplement to the MetroMonitor, this eighth edition of the Great Lakes Monitor examines the 21 largest metros in the Great Lakes region on key indicators of economic performance. The report’s findings show that as of the second quarter of 2011 (ending in June), employment and economic output in the region’s 21 largest metropolitan areas grew at a slower pace between the last quarter of 2010 and the first quarter of this year than the nation as a whole. The region’s job growth has been stronger than the nation’s during the recovery, helped by large gains in manufacturing, but its employment level remains 5.2 percent lower than it was before the recession. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Jennifer Bradley, August 11, 2011, The Brookings Institution
As President Obama heads to an automobile battery plant in Michigan, Jennifer Bradley explores government’s potential role in stimulating innovation. She argues that public sector investments can bridge gaps in capital funding by private companies, while laying foundations for job growth and prosperity.
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John C. Austin, July 19, 2011, The Avenue, The New Republic
Leaders on both sides of the Great Lakes region’s international border must work together to strengthen their highly integrated region, says John Austin. He argues that by pooling resources to update infrastructure and establish a thriving clean energy sector, leaders in the United States and Canada can move the region toward the next economy. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Bruce Katz and Josh Hjartarson, June 17, 2011, National Post
How can the Great Lakes region fuel growth and make a shift toward the next economy? Bruce Katz and Josh Hjartarson outline how American and Canadian communities in the region can leverage their assets, collaborate with other metropolitan areas, and build innovation strategies to ensure long-term prosperity. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
John C. Austin, February 26, 2011, Detroit Free Press
Beyond merely fostering a good business climate, Michigan must properly invest in its existing assets, says John Austin. He urges the state's leaders to focus on its universities, infrastructure, cities and natural resources to help the regional economy grow. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Howard Wial, January 20, 2011, The Avenue, The New Republic
With the nation’s unemployment rate at 9.4 percent, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke predicts that the United States may return to full employment in about four or five years. How long would it take for metropolitan areas with significantly higher unemployment rates to reach that goal? Howard Wial takes a look at metropolitan Detroit, which had an unemployment rate of 13.5 percent in November, and finds that the area's rate actually could fall more quickly than expected. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Howard Wial, November 24, 2010, The Avenue, The New Republic
Howard Wial looks at the potential economic impact of electric cars on the Great Lakes region, saying that if electric cars become a big part of America’s automotive future, and if startups get the edge over established companies in making them, they could deliver a future shock to a large swath of the region. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Jennifer S. Vey, John C. Austin and Jennifer Bradley, September 27, 2010, Brookings Institution
Although battered by decades of declining economic health, and particularly by the recession, the metros of the Great Lakes region have many resources that will be essential in the next economy. The authors describe how the region’s strengths can lead the Great Lakes and the nation toward a better economic future. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
John C. Austin and Jennifer S. Vey, September 27, 2010, The Avenue, The New Republic
John Austin and Jennifer Vey argue that the metros of Great Lakes region have the strengths necessary to gain real traction in the next economy—an economy that will be export-led, low carbon, and innovation-fueled, and which will provide better opportunities for larger numbers of people. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Bruce Katz and Jennifer Bradley, August 08, 2010, Cleveland Plain-Dealer
Can boosting exports help bring economic prosperity to the northeastern Ohio region? Bruce Katz and Jennifer Bradley explore how metros in the area can leverage their strong export activity and foster innovation to stimulate growth and create high-wage jobs. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Jennifer A. Bradley, July 29, 2010, The Avenue, The New Republic
Jennifer Bradley examines the Great Lakes region’s export data from the new Export Nation report. She argues that the region needs to ramp up its innovations within the manufacturing sector to fully realize the promise of a global-oriented export economy. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
John C. Austin, June 10, 2010, The Avenue, The New Republic
During a recent bi-partisan gubernatorial debate on Michigan’s Mackinac Island, talk turned to the possibility of oil drilling in the Great Lakes. John Austin dissects the issues surrounding such a possibility, explaining how in the wake of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, potential economic viability of drilling in the Great Lakes has been overshadowed. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
James J. Duderstadt, Mark Muro and Sarah Rahman, June 2010, The Brookings Institution
James Duderstadt, Mark Muro and Sarah Rahman examine the potential for the economically depressed Great Lakes region to serve as a clean energy research and technology hub. Specifically, they offer a federal policy framework that focuses on the area's strength in R&D and manufacturing, both to transform the country's energy system, as well as to revitalize the local economy. Read More
VIDEO
Mark Muro, June 01, 2010
Mark Muro says the United States needs to accelerate national clean energy innovation. He explains how the federal government can draw on the research and engineering strengths of the Great Lakes region to develop innovation centers, revitalizing the regional and national economies along the way.