By John Bebow - September 10, 2008
That wonkish term "Gross State Product," is probably a poor measure of our overall wellbeing as a people, Phil Power writes this week. Yet, the latest economic figures give business types plenty to chew on as we all hope for brighter times sooner rather than later.
Here's a quick rundown of the bright spots and dark spots in the Michigan economy...
DARK SPOT: Overall Gross State Product dropped by $4 billion in 2007. For details, go to www.bea.gov.
BRIGHT SPOT: Healthy "new economy" sectors like information, health care, and education, and a few others like retail trade and transportation, added more than $100 billion to the state's productivity in 2007. For details, go to www.bea.gov.
DARK SPOT: University of Michigan economists forecast more job losses in Michigan through next year, and then a slow recovery beginning in 2010.
BRIGHT SPOT: Metro Detroit information officers expect strong hiring to continue through the end of the year.
DARK SPOT: Comerica economists say the state economy is falling rapidly and Manpower's latest hiring survey predicts more job losses than gains in coming months. See the Manpower survey for each of Michigan's labor markets.
BRIGHT SPOT: That same Manpower survey suggests a hiring uptick in Monroe, Saginaw/Bay City/Midland, and Battle Creek. And Metromode continues to post dozens of new openings at new economy businesses on a regular basis.
2 Comments
Health care is not a bright spot in the Michigan economy. It just means we are spending more money on taking care of our citizens. Except for the U of M hospital we do not bring money into the Michigan economy from out of state. Would like to know how many visitors from out of state go to the U of M hospital. Our economic success is dependent upon binging money into the state not simply moving it around or using it for health care rather then going out to dinner.
True. But at the same time, dollars spent by Michigan residents for health care here are dollars that are not being sent to other states. My hunch is that, across the nation, the vast majority of health care dollars are spent locally, on primary care, diagnostic services, etc. On day-to-day medical care, it would seem to be a zero sum game across the country. The key for Michigan is to attract more research dollars and to position our state as the place to come for non-routine health care. I'm thinking along the lines of M.D. Anderson in Texas for cancer treatment, the Mayo clinic, Johns Hopkins, etc. Michigan should capitalize on the fact that we have some of the finest medical schools and research facilities in the country.
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