Charles Ballard

“I think the biggest takeaway from the recent Michigan primary election is that most of the polling was correct,” says MSU economist Charles Ballard, who runs the State of the State surveys. “The November election is shaping up to be what we thought it was going to look like several months ago.”

Michigan consumers are basking in the warmth of a strong economy, but just slightly warmer toward their top elected leaders, results from a new Michigan State University State of the State Survey indicate.

Of those taking part in the latest survey, more than half – 60.9 percent -- declared their financial circumstances good or excellent.
 

State of the State is a monthly discussion with MSU researchers who provide context and evidence to inform Michigan policy debates.

Matt Grossmann, political scientist and Director of the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research (IPPSR), Charles Ballard, economist and Director of the State of the State Survey, and Arnold Weinfeld, associate director of IPPSR, engage in a lively discussion of Michigan policy and current events each month.

Michigan State University scholars Matt Grossmann, Charles Ballard, and Arnold Weinfeld continue their analysis of the most recent State of the State Survey results. In this second part of the conversation, the group focuses on Michigan residents’ views of the governor’s race and ballot propositions.

Michigan residents were more upbeat about the economy this winter than about their elected leaders in Michigan State University’s latest State of the State Survey (SOSS), released February 23.
 

Each month, MSU professors Charles Ballard and Matt Grossmann engage in a lively discussion of Michigan policy and current events. This Month on State of the State: k-12 education finance and policy with guest Kristi Bowman.

Each month, MSU professors Charles Ballard and Matt Grossmann engage in a lively discussion of Michigan policy and current events.

Grossmann directs MSU’s Institute for Public Policy and Social Research (IPPSR), and he’s a political scientist at MSU. Ballard is an economist at MSU and directs IPPSR’s State of the State survey.

Each month, MSU professors Charles Ballard and Matt Grossmann will aim for a lively discussion of Michigan policy and current events. They’ll run down 3 or 4 hot topics, pointing to research on each policy issue. In this edition, they cover income tax cuts, Detroit’s bid for Amazon’s second headquarters, and the proposal for a part-time legislature.