Category Archives: Business and Government

One of the biggest economic issues in Wisconsin may or may not be addressed in this legislative session. That would be the staggeringly high medical costs under the state’s workers compensation program. It’s about a billion dollar annual program to … Read the rest

For decades, political and economic thinkers have been talking up the potential virtues of closer connections between Madison and Milwaukee. The theory is that if Wisconsin looked more like Minnesota, we Badgers might be able to keep pace with the … Read the rest

Whether Gov. Walker‘s 5.7-point win Tuesday is a “mandate” is debatable, but there is no denying that he has won by that kind of margin three times in four years, and that alone is an affirmation by a majority -- … Read the rest

Wisconsin employers are increasingly frustrated with excessive medical costs in the state’s Worker’s Compensation (WC) program, so much so that they are organizing to get some relief. There is a good-news-bad-news picture for Worker’s Compensation here. The good news is … Read the rest

Said it before, gonna say it again: there is no reason why the jobs numbers in Wisconsin or other states are so unreliable and so dated.` Wisconsin just got the job creation numbers for the third quarter of 2013 ended … Read the rest

The most watched economic metric in Wisconsin, other states and the country is job growth. Yet by the time the numbers are reported, they are stale. Take Wisconsin’s most recent report. It showed a gain of about 24,000 jobs in … Read the rest

The expensive battle between the Potawatomi and Menominee tribes over permission to build a giant new casino in Kenosha, Wisconsin has unending twists, turns, pros and cons, but there is one thing it isn’t. It isn’t economic development, even though … Read the rest

With Labor Day in the rear view mirror, and dangerous foreign entanglements aside, the biggest and most intractable challenge facing America has to be joblessness, particularly in our inner cities. The national unemployment rate has dropped from the double digits … Read the rest

As state support for the UW systems continues to fall, the new chancellor of UW-Madison, Rebecca Blank, has announced her intention to go dialing for dollars among its far-flung alumnae. She has little choice. As long as the federal and … Read the rest

The Greater Milwaukee Foundation has weighed in with yet another slice-and-dice of the woes of the metro area. It was meant to be a “conversation starter.” To be straight about it, we really don’t need more “conversation” about our deficiencies … Read the rest