On May 14, Ann Arbor City Attorney Kristen Larcom sent cease and desist letters to Uber and Lyft, two on-demand taxi-like apps, yet four months later, both companies are still operating in Ann Arbor and no one has been prosecuted. For both of these companies, operating in a legal grey-zone is familiar terrain. For example, […]
Recently, two University of Michigan Economists, Jeffrey Smith and Chris House, have voiced their opposition to a petition to raise the minimum wage. This petition was released on January 14, 2014, and was signed by over 600 economists, including six University of Michigan professors. The petition called for a hike in the minimum wage from […]
Picture Credit to: New York Post On November 15th, Twitter went public, opening at $45.10, which gave the company a fully diluted valuation of $31.2 billion, higher than established brands such as Whole Foods or Kellogg. This has led many to claim that Twitter is overvalued. Were the owners of Twitter just cashing out […]
On October 1, Healthcare.gov, launched to a resounding thud. The core element of Obamacare is that many people can buy health insurance through a national healthcare exchange. Healthcare.gov was designed as the platform for people to do this. On the opening day, the marketing of the plan made by this agency was so successful, that […]
In May 2010, the state of Michigan raised $178 million through leases to extract minerals on public land, the majority of which was natural gas. This amount nearly totaled how much the state of Michigan raised in the previous 82 years. Given Michigan’s recent economic woes, it’s obvious why fracking is attractive. The main mechanism […]
Throughout our history Americans have migrated in search of opportunities, from the pioneers who settled the west, to the Great Migration of African Americans from the south. However, as Timothy Noah points out in his Washington Monthly column “Stay Put Young Man,” following the financial crisis of 2007 Americans have migrated at a far lower […]
On September 14, 2013 the US and Russia reached a treaty which forestalled imminent US military intervention in Syria. However, this was far from inevitable. Just six days prior, Secretary of State John Kerry laid out the case for intervention and stated that beyond a reasonable doubt the Syrian regime had used chemical weapons on […]
In May, the Ann Arbor City Council approved the most recent high-rise development project at Huron and Division. Despite the shortage of housing in Ann Arbor, the city council approved it by the the slimmest of margins (6 votes to 5) out of fear of an “eight-figure lawsuit”. Blackmail should not be the development […]
