Academic-Capital

A small saw mill in the area. Entrepreneurs!  That could impact local construction, furniture, and other local industries. A question? Could reaching out to regional entrepreneurship graduates be a good pool to encourage to relocate and start a business? Entrepreneurs are important for the local economy and the long term health of a nation as a whole. Knowing who is most likely to become an entrepreneur and how to attract them is worth a pound of gold to those entities that hope to spur new economic activity. Typically, starting more small business ( mixed with larger businesses ) equates to additional investment and an influx of capital. For example, in the town of Escanaba Michigan there is a need for new entrepreneurs who can help put life into and enhance the downtown in a sustainable way. If you don't know much about Escanaba it is one of those small Northern Michigan towns in the UP that has all the underutilized essentials needed for future growth. Visit Escanaba . What a st

Energy is an important thing and ensuring that we have energy reduces the risk of economic pitfalls and downturns in a way that impact kitchen tables. With some recent changes in the oil market that include Saudi Arabia and Russia production restrictions the U.S. could be exploring other options.  Finding other sources of oil is important, tapping our own oil is important, and pushing green development is important. We should ensure we have adequate supply through this transition but find the point where green becomes the preferred industry choice because of its overall higher benefits ( The best way is to do that through market innovation and the natural development of the green industry. There is some industry push to green now. )    At the end of the day opening of Venezuela's oil market means we may consider seeking benefit from that market and trying to limit the influence other nations that have had a free hand in that market for too long ( i.e. Iran and Russia ). Putting our

Gladstone DDA presents Old Fashion Christmas 2022. It is wonderful to see the small towns in the area come together as a community to celebrate Christmas. Gladstone and Escanaba are two small towns located on Lake Michigan in the pristine beauty of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.   If you are interested in investing in the area, want to start a business, or seek to partner with local entities you can might want to contact the DDA and/or Delta County Chamber of Commerce. If you haven't visited the area in the winter you really should think about it as a future eco tourism destination. I like to hike and snow shoe. Sometimes cross country ski. Summers are about boating and beaches. In my case diving and fishing.  Old Fashion Christmas FB City of Gladstone FB Gladstone DDA Page Delta Chamber of Commerce Information on MEDC on Creating DDAs.

I often talk about why hate and those who support hate are a serious risk to our democracy. While on the top of our nation we talk about democracy and freedom in very high end abstract terms ( I do this as well so its normal and in many ways beneficial ) most of these people have no idea what its like in our communities where hate has often become fashionable among certain clans. The lifestyles of those with resources are very different then the lifestyles of the average ( I have lived in top zip codes and bottom zip codes and there are worlds of differences. One can't really describe the other unless you have lived for some time in both .) ( Its hard to blame many politicians and officials who don't understand hate because many/most were raised with resources, in the right crowds, and with lots of support. They don't really have the same connection to what happens on a ground level with real people trying to make ends meet. You can sort of see that with our politics where

The world is a tricky place and lots of different cyber threats emerge, hacking groups form, money is spent, and people try and get information for gain. We are into a time when we are interconnected and have to protect sensitive data. As a department the DOD, like any other organism, must continuously update to its environment or risk being compromised. The DOD will update, our adversaries will update, and natural pressures encourage us to be adaptive or lose out on competitive advantages.  The name of the game for the future is innovation and how that allows us to be central to the Digital Era. Our data will need to be further insulated so as to ensure that our adversaries are not using espionage and other malicious methods to obtain information they didn't put the resources in to discovery for themselves.  I didn't read through everything but here are some resources if this topic is of interest to you. Its important to sort of understand changes from an IT perspective. Gover

Another exciting meeting of a small American town on the move, adjusting, and improving its opportunities with each step forward. Escanaba is becoming increasingly open to investment and development in a way that could impact its trajectory going forward ( Post Covid changes things. ). That is good news for those who want to reinvest in America's small towns that improves not only those towns but perhaps many others just like it ( Building a model of economic cluster development through innovation and investment that better aligns towns to global markets .) ( Am I making a stretch here? 🤔👺 I'm making a small stretch. You can see people starting to work together to encourage more local development through zoning changes and moving projects forward. For those of you who don't know "cutting the red tape" refers not only to regulations but also getting through the many delays of bureaucracy. Better strategies forward often create better cutting of tape to achieve t

Informed citizens keep up with the news and some of the important things that are occurring every day. When big announcements like this occur they signal a direction and potentially a change in the environment. Special Counsel Jack Smith has been appointed to provide an objective analysis of whether charges should be brought forward, dropped or some other direction taken.  ( Good or bad there will be an adjustment/reaction by some members of society. Former President Trump is as expected not happy so from a theoretical perspective we should consider what his options are and his level of support among Republicans. You can read some of Former President Trump's response  HERE .  Much of this is going to depend on where Republicans want to expend political capital and what they hope to accomplish with their time in office. Because of the different investigations going on it will come down to being a more personal choice by politicians so it will likely be encouraged for Republicans to

What is the G20? Lots of news on the topic and conversation on what the organization does and what it hopes to accomplish. The G20 tries to create shared perspectives of economic, political and health challenges. ( NY Times as a solid description HERE.   ) It is a way for countries to coordinate policies on things that are important to all the major participating nations. It can impact anything from economics to public health policies. Sometimes they might raise money and other times just awareness. What I find sort of interesting on a personal level is the commitment to the Digital Era/Economy and some of the changes that will likely not only impact how business is conducted but also the forms/structure of business across the globe. More international cooperation is likely and there will be new rules as it relates to global data security and theft of data.  ( Legislation will play catch up with technology. Because most cultures would accept that data theft is a root moral violation li

Car ramming into and injuring up to 25 LA Sheriff recruits is sad, horrendous, dangerous, and hopefully not a trend! If this was an intentional act I would say it is getting close to being considered an impromptu convenience target of terrorism ( ..of course unless it was planned...which would be even more concerning. ). If it was not an intentional act then the situation will need to be reviewed carefully so we protect against other such incidents in the future ( i.e. by ensuring greater escort protection, switching to jogging on football fields, etc. policy changes. Personally I think we should be in a safe country and jog anywhere we want without fear of violence. This could be another sign we need people to start working together to solve our problems. Working across the isle solves issues today but solidifies a path forward for everyone to anchor on tomorrow. ) The big questions are why were they hit ( intentional or unintentional ) and how might that fit ( or not fit ) with other

US President Biden's meeting with China's leader President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) underscored some fairly important topics that lead the day. While these topics are paramount interest it is a process of discussion and recognition that helps define future relationships. The topics are important but the walking away with fundamental understandings of the ability to discuss important issues in the future is perhaps more important ( A fundamental question is "Has a sense of trust been created between the two parties?" i.e. summing up each others character. It goes down to the root of who we are as a species and it is still a big part of how we understand each other. ). So far this meeting appears to have been a success. People and nations may disagree about some topics but often these are based in culturally rooted assumptions. Sometimes, as in this case, there are a few very important issues that will require more frank conversation. The goal

Hate is a powerful tool that is wholly destructive to the community in which it is yielded. Many of our politicians, leaders and local administrators don't really understand the roots of hate in much of the same way as they may not fully grasp the concept of political extremism ( i.e. capital riots caught us off guard although many communities have complained of such behaviors for decades. As we may notice, the blind eye leads to much larger problems. ). They often, not always, miss the signs when poor personal opinions move from distorted viewpoints into coordinated activities that risk the purpose and function of institutions and when values have infected the foundations of democracy.  The risks to the community, the "targets" and the country are large and those within the "bubble" of thought have few to no anchor points outside of their personal and social perspectives. They are limited by their ethnocentric viewpoints and have not walked in another's sho

The elections are over and we have people moving into the winner's box. Others are likely to ponder new ways of attracting votes and capital. Each person we elect will have certain traits and characteristics we admire and perhaps some that we don't. What I like to see is when strong candidates like this are elected on their merit based not only on their past performance but also on their ability to get some things we need done ( That is not against the other candidates and parties that ran. ). You can see the statewide results on the Secretary of States page at Michigan.gov . There is also TV 6's listing of winners by Mi. County . Congressman Jack Bergman  State Senator Ed McBroom Representative Dave Preston Michigan District 108  Delta County Winners: Delta County (DC) Prosecutor Lauren Wickman (R), DC Road Com. Dennis J. Stanek (R), DC Board 2nd District, DC Board 3rd District Steven Viau (R), DC Board Disctrict 4th District. A Few Reasons Why: The candidates in our are

Purchase Into the Horizon Big Bear Mountain   There are few things more beautiful than mountain ranges. Last weekend I was hiked around the peaks of the mountains near Big Bear, CA. I got some great photo shots and also got my exercise done at the same time. There is something magical about nature and we should ensure we protect and expand that nature as much as possible. The more we advance in technology in the Digital Era the more likely we will better use and renew our environment ( Its just a technology and efficiency issue ).  Because we don't yet have all the technology and science available to reverse the impact of pollution we must conserve i.e. Conservation. I looked around to see if I could find something on conservation near mountains. Something from LA popped up on my screen. Considering my hiking trip and the report subject are not that far apart I thought it was interesting to include here. The authors feel that durable open spaces are helpful to preserve land where

In our society we know that we must have civilized behaviors in order to survive and maintain the core functions of society. There must be collaboration between the different elements of society. According to the Cambridge dictionary a civilized society is, " A civilized society or country has a well developed system of government, culture, and way of life and that treats the people who live there fairly "( Cambridge Dictionary, n.d .). It means our institutions and systems are in alignment with their stated purpose. In any society there are civilized and uncivilized elements. When the uncivilized elements overcome the civilized elements we are out of balance and may begin to see things like civil defaults of institutions. Americans expect a civilized society and while we may have uproars from time to time ( i.e. capital riots ) we have shown thus far that we eventually settle into a shared understanding ( i.e. civilized society ). That isn't always the case in every plac

If you would like to purchase picture check out gallery HERE . The '100% Whitish" Initiative is designed to bring back fishing through increasing the value of Whitefish for commercial use. According to the press release, "Campaign aims to demonstrate how commercially caught Great Lakes whitefish can be more fully used, raising per fish value toward $3,500" ( Michigan Department of Natural Resources .) The Conference of Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors & Premiers got their minds together to ponder how to increase the value of whitefish in the Great Lakes. When we look at places like Iceland's fishing policies that have returned some of their commercial fishing industries. we should always implement best practices into the Great Lakes ( It would be nice to not think as much about limiting catches but about how to increase total fish populations and manage the permits to that increase. Paying special attention to ensure a variety of different commercial fish

Our veterans have seen the best and worst of mankind. They know all too well the risks to democracy and the sacrifices that are needed to maintain our freedoms. Most have first hand account and memories of what a lack of freedom and democracy looks like on all too vivid scale. They have visited places where race, religion, and ethnic differences were exploited to commit the worst humanitarian disasters ( They also worked and fought in units where racial and religious differences didn't even cross their mind. ).  Many of our veterans know what it takes to uphold democracy and they know all too well what the world looks like when people are stripped of freedoms ( or perhaps never had them ). They are the ones who upheld our essential American values while the world collapsed around them. They stood tall as the ground turned cold. We raise our flag high on Veteran's Day. Its more than that isn't it? We must live and honor those hard earned passed from generations of sacrific

The NASDAQ, DOW and S&P500 stock rally is expected to last throughout Thanksgiving. There has been a bump because of signs inflation rises are slowing down which reduces some future investment risks.  Nov 10th 2022 CPI  From BEA. We want to understand what happens between economic data and how stock markets respond. CEOs, investors, and even politicians want to understand stock markets in order to raise value and capital. ( What type of actions create large scale stock increases? From an older study we might see broad based economic announcements  have an impact. Perhaps if we looked at all the Bull & Bear markets and cross analyzed them with announcements/events we might gain insight historically. We can also consider that major events such as stopping/starting oil, Russian conflict, supply chain issues, etc. create market volatility. I would also suspect anything that is known for decision making to impact the economy is likely to have some effect i.e. a large scale infra

Manufacturing in the U.S. is one of key industries that not only carried the U.S. to unseen heights after WWII but also has received increased attention in the post-COVID world. Manufacturing has moved into the spotlight and of renewed interest as the global conflict rises and supply chains are disrupted. The video from the Detroit Economic Club is from two weeks ago but it is an interesting discussion on how to back manufacturing to the U.S. and what these manufacturers need to grow. Some of the of the key points relate to regulation, what people feel, hiring, and education. You can check out the Detroit Economic Club's page HERE  ( Its worth the visit and influences business policy ).  Key Notes and ( Thoughts) : ( Don't expect it to be perfect. They are like notes and key points. Also application of a theory I'm writing .🤓) -Manufacturing is hiring lots of people. 12.9 mil. people. The economic value of human capital. -6 job seekers per 10 open positions. -70%