Author: Syndicated

Wisconsin exports a diverse array of agricultural products around the world. One high-profile item is ginseng, an herb that has been grown in parts of central Wisconsin for over a century. In 2017, the state exported more products on the whole than the previous year, which means global economic shifts like President Donald Trump’s escalating trade war with China could have an even greater impact on farmers and local economies around the state. When China’s government retaliated for Trump’s imposition of new steel and aluminum tariffs, it struck directly at the livelihoods of ginseng growers who depend heavily on...

U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesman Tyler Q. Houlton dismisses “tinfoil hat wearing” reporters who question the government’s motives in an official tweet. The DHS is looking to compile a database of journalists, bloggers and social media “influencers” here and overseas, Bloomberg reported. A request filed on April 3 sought a contractor to gather information on people posting across all platforms — radio, print, digital, and television — in 100 languages. Bids are expected on April 13. According to Bloomberg, the request came amid “heightened concern” about accuracy in media and the potential for foreigners to influence U.S. elections...

As an education activist, I have teacher friends and connections from all states across our country. As I was home today shooing the flu away, I had a chance to really soak in an entire day’s worth of seeing student activists growing or most noticeably, newly being formed. The National swirl of Walkout activities which dually recognized the one-month mark of the Parkland shooting and served as an expression of solidarity with the student-led demands for gun law reform, were powerful, to put it mildly. I would love to elaborate on my emotions related to the students encircled around...

The federal budget proposal for 2019 calls for defunding the College Sea Grant Program for the second year in a row, despite the threat of a bipartisan pushback from lawmakers in the Great Lakes states. It echoes a fight that took place one year ago, when the Trump administration proposed defunding the program in 2018. Sea Grant’s full funding was restored with the support of a large constituency in Congress. Ninety-five members of the U.S. House of Representatives and 28 U.S. senators signed letters last year to support the program, citing National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports that said...

The latest example of the reinvention of the rust belt is the formation of a mini-cluster in film making in Milwaukee. It is a historic irony that the Milwaukee Filmmaker Alliance (MWA) will be housed in a previous Pabst building called The Brewery. The former beer cluster now employs about 3,000 people in the M7 Region, while the emerging film cluster employs almost 15,000, five times as many in what’s called “the creative class.” Like other M7 economic clusters, the film cluster it is a collection of players who interact to create an interconnected, dynamic business sector. The recognition...

The future prospects of employment in Milwaukee and the nation is unsettling, and if we do not alter our concept of work and of providing for the common good, then we may be facing a bleak world where an increasing number of American families are perpetually just scrapping by. Welcome to the contingent economy. Nearly all the jobs created between 2005 and 2015 were contingent jobs, according to Brandon Busteed, Executive Director, Education and Workforce Development at Gallup. The data cited by Busteed is sobering: Leading economists estimate that almost all (94%) new jobs created between 2005 and 2015...