Institute for Public Policy and Social Research

IPPSR Director’s Newest Book Reviewed on the State of the State Podcast.

While the nation has gained more than a million jobs this year, job growth in the U.S. heartland is stagnant to slowing, a Michigan State University economist said during November’s State of the State Podcast.

The monthly podcast features IPPSR Director Matt Grossmann, MSU Economics Professor Charles Ballard and IPPSR Associate Director Arnold Weinfeld, with special guests, swapping views on politics, the economy and the state of the state and the world.

Michigan is experiencing a shortage of substitute teachers in districts small and large, urban and rural, leaving school district superintendents unable to fill temporarily vacant positions several times a schoolweek, new research conducted at Michigan State University concludes.

Matt Grossman is director of the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research and an associate professor of political science at Michigan State University and he's written a new book titled Red State Blues.

The political divide between Democrats and Republicans seems to be the most contentious in recent years, but in his book, Red State Blues, he presents findings that might put some liberals at ease.

It’s all about politics, tariffs and the popular vote – read that as redistricting -- in June’s State of the State Podcast.

Michigan State University’s Institute for Public Policy and Social Research fielded three well-known voices on the State of the State Podcast: Interim IPPSR Director Arnold Weinfeld, economist Charles Ballard and Corwin Smidt, associate professor of political science.

Set dial for potentially long legislative summer, IPPSR podcasters predict

Michigan must harness new technologies to do battle with drug traffickers and the opioid crisis, a Michigan State University criminal justice researcher says in a new report sponsored by the university’s Institute for Public Policy and Social Research.

Michigan residents are worried about a spill of the Line 5 underwater oil pipeline in to the Straits of Mackinac and are even more concerned about a rupture during winter’s icy conditions, new Michigan State University research finds.

Michigan residents support a transition from coal-fired energy to more solar and wind powered electricity, a new Michigan State University research report finds.

Public support of natural gas-generated electricity was more mixed, says MSU College of Engineering researchers who queried Michigan residents through a combination of interviews, focus group and general public attitudes.  

As 2018 comes to a chilly close, Michigan’s residents warmed to President Donald Trump, cooled to outgoing Gov. Rick Snyder and look forward to a sunny economy in 2019.

 President Trump’s favorable ratings continued to climb, with 34.4 percent of Michigan residents giving him an “excellent” or “good” review, according to results from Michigan State University’s latest State of the State Survey (SOSS.) 

With mid-term elections less than two weeks away, Democrats appear to lead in two top-of-ticket races, the latest results from Michigan State University’s State of the State Survey indicate. Michigan’s attorney general race is likely too close to call, results show.

“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.”