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Rick Haglund: Amazon vs. everybody and Michigan’s place in tax break wars
Good-government types are hailing the breakup of online retail giant Amazon and New York City as a long-awaited reckoning of the outrageous subsidies offered by states and communities looking to attract new employers. Amazon, as you might have read between stories about President Trump playing golf during a supposed national emergency and Princess Meghan Markle’s […]
Rick Haglund: Biz groups fighting Whitmer’s environmental agenda fail to see big economic picture
Republican leaders in the Legislature have pledged to work cooperatively with Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on solving the tough issues facing the state. But apparently that spirit of collaboration doesn’t apply when she does something they don’t like. GOP lawmakers and business lobbying groups are incensed with Whitmer over a recent executive order she issued […]
Rick Haglund: Whitmer’s economic strategy focuses on people over corporations
Business leaders and local economic developers have publicly urged Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to stay the course set by her predecessor, former Gov. Rick Snyder, in building on the state’s economic momentum. It’s easy to see why. Under Snyder, Michigan’s jobless rate plunged 7 percentage points, from 11 percent in January 2011 to 4 percent in […]