The Meeting Room Shuffle Adds Stress at the Office
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Communal spaces are at a premium in the post-Covid workplace, so mind the clock. Plus: The legacy of Pope Francis.
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The world's 1.4 billion Catholics are mourning the death of Pope Francis. Today's Businessweek Daily presents a few views of his legacy. Plus, Shelly Banjo writes about an office space problem that's only getting worse, and we have a profile of Russell Vought, perhaps the second-most powerful man in Washington.
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Yahoo
42 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Michigan proposal to tax the rich, fund schools raises questions with business groups
(Getty Images) A group of Michigan educational and labor organizations launched a ballot initiative to let Michigan voters decide if they want to place higher taxes on wealthy Michiganders to fund public K-12 schools this week and business groups are questioning how beneficial the change would be for the state. Michigan's 4.25% income tax rate has billionaires and teachers paying the same rate, Michigan Education Justice Coalition, one of the education groups behind the ballot initiative to add a 5% income tax hike for individuals with incomes over $500,000 and couples earning over $1 million said Thursday. One of the key questions business groups will be considering when evaluating the proposed additional increases in income tax rates is how any change would impact Michigan's competitiveness as a place to live and do business, Joshua Lunger, vice president of Government Affairs for the Grand Rapids Chamber, told Michigan Advance on Friday. The chamber will be reviewing the ballot initiative before taking any official position on it, but right away, Lunger said a lot of states that are growing have no income tax or are trying to reduce their income tax rates, so it's important to evaluate what the unique impact on Michigan would be. That's what the chamber did when it opposed the 2010 temporary income tax increase for Grand Rapids residents and then supported maintaining the tax increase with the condition that the city funded road repairs, Lunger said. 'It really comes down to, what is it being used for? What's the potential impact? And both positive and negative, are there any other unintended consequences?' Lunger said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Michigan's public school system has historically been underfunded with Michigan State University researchers finding that the state's funding for K-12 schools dropped further than any other state in the two decades before the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, Michigan students experienced some of the worst learning losses in the country, a 2025 report from EdTrust-Midwest, a Michigan-based, education advocacy nonprofit group, found. The report also noted Michigan ranked among the worst states in the country for funding the educational success of low-income students, who are testing lower in Michigan than national averages on 3rd grade reading tests and 7th grade math tests. Michigan's reading scores for younger students are some of the worst in the country, a pain point with decisionmakers in Lansing when discussing state budgets and spending decisions. But another focus area is Michigan's stagnating population growth and the necessity to entice businesses to come to Michigan and for Michiganders to remain in the state's workforce. In order for Michigan to get on track to grow, the state should be incentivizing economic success, not further taxing it, Jase Bolger, president and CEO of the West Michigan Policy Forum said in a statement in response to the ballot initiative Friday morning. Instead of throwing money at Michigan's educational system that is failing to address the needs of students, Bolger said parents should be provided more information about the status of their child's learning and if they're meeting expectations. 'Way too many kids in Michigan can't read, but it's clear these adults can't do simple math. Today in Michigan, the more you make the more you pay. But worse is that this proposal would drive Michigan further in the wrong direction,' Bolger said. 'While states that are growing are overwhelmingly cutting taxes on work, or don't tax work at all, this would double down on Michigan's lagging policies that have led to the fastest growing unemployment rate in the country.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Default ahead for California? Unlikely, says New Report From Payden & Rygel's California Municipal Social Impact Fund Team
LOS ANGELES, June 09, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Recent concerns over California's fiscal health—driven by declining initial public offering (IPO) volume, reduced federal funding risk, and rising costs—have prompted questions about the state's financial stability. However, after a thorough analysis, Payden & Rygel's market-leading municipal bond team believes the risk of a bond default or severe credit deterioration remains low. 'While we understand investors' concerns about the California economy, its capacity to generate adequate revenue to match spending levels and the potential impact on the state's municipal debt, we believe that although the revenue picture is softening, the outlook remains relatively stable over the next 1-2 years with potential credit rating deterioration limited to just one notch over that timeframe in a worst case scenario. Near term ratings will hinge on the final FY 26 budget that we expect Sacramento to pass by June 15th, otherwise lawmakers don't get paid,' say the report's authors, the Payden & Rygel's California Municipal Social Impact Fund team. 'We are also closely monitoring the evolution of entitlement spending reduction proposals at the federal level but ultimately expect Medicaid cuts to be less pervasive than currently feared,' they added. Here are six reasons to be optimistic: The 10th amendment prohibits states, including California, from filing for bankruptcy. While defaults are technically possible, California is nowhere near default based on current less than a month in the current fiscal year, tax revenues are weakening but remain strong, with Governor Newsom's recent May Revision projecting a relatively small $12 billion projected for next year. IPO activity, while down, is not a core revenue driver. Its recent decline reflects a normalization post-COVID stimulus, not a structural weakness. All three major credit agencies S&P, Moody's, and Fitch—rate California AA-/Aa2/AA, respectively, all with stable outlooks but we expect the ratings agencies to refine their views this summer following the finalization of the FY 2026 budget process by the end of gross domestic product (GDP) ranks #4 globally, recently surpassing Japan, underscoring a broad, diverse and innovative state economy with a deep employment base. Although reserves have dipped since 2023 due to pandemic fund drawdowns and budgetary uncertainty in FY 2023/2024 due to delayed tax receipts, they remain at comparatively strong levels historically that will grant state leadership time to navigate federal policy uncertainty, which Governor Newsom blames for a softening of service is low at 3–4% of governmental expenditures, and pension funding remains solid. Because of constitutional protections that prioritize education and debt payments, revenue would need to drop over 50% to threaten debt service. For context, State revenues dropped 15% in uncertainty, California retains healthy credit fundamentals with relatively stable ratings, manageable deficits, excellent access to liquidity and conservative budgeting assumptions that support bondholder confidence. In summary, while recent headlines surrounding tariffs, fiscal tightening, and economic uncertainty have contributed to heightened market anxiety, our base case remains firm: Although California's credit profile is softening, it continues to demonstrate resilience, supported by a vast and diversified tax base, substantial reserve levels across all governmental funds, and long-term liabilities that we consider both moderate and manageable. Here is a link to the full report. ABOUT PAYDEN & RYGEL With $165 billion under management, Payden & Rygel is one of the largest privately-owned global investment advisers focused on the active management of fixed income and equity portfolios. Payden & Rygel provides a full range of investment strategies and solutions to investors around the globe, including Central Banks, Pension Funds, Insurance Companies, Private Banks, and Foundations. This material reflects the firm's current opinion and is subject to change without notice. Sources for the material contained herein are deemed reliable but cannot be guaranteed. This material is for illustrative purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or an offer to sell or buy any security. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. For press requests, please contact:Kate Ennisennis@ Photos accompanying this announcement are available at This press release was published by a CLEAR® Verified in to access your portfolio
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Chinese exports to US plunge 35% in May — largest drop since start of COVID
China's exports to the US plunged in May as a temporary trade truce between the world's two largest economies proved 'too little, too late' to prevent chaos at ports. Chinese shipments to the US plummeted 35% in May compared to the year before, according to government data released Monday. That's the largest decline since February 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic caused a supply chain crisis. Advertisement 3 Cargo shipments piled up at a container terminal port in Shanghai, China. AP It comes after President Trump agreed to lower tariffs on China to 30% from 145% and Beijing slashed rates on the US to 10% from 125% for 90 days. 'The prohibitive tariffs were only lifted in mid-May, the damage was already done,' Tianchen Xu, senior economist at Economist Intelligence Unit, said. Advertisement The nation also reported a jump in exports to other parts of the world last month. Chinese shipments to Southeast Asia and European Union countries rose 15% and 12%, respectively. Those sent to Africa jumped more than 33%. China saw the same boom in exports to other countries in April, when Chinese exports to the US dropped 21%. 'These are obviously transshipments to the US via 3rd countries. Thailand and Vietnam look bonkers,' Robin Brooks, senior global economy fellow at Brookings Institution, said in a social media post. He nodded to a method used by exporters of sending goods to other countries facing lower tariffs before spiriting them off to the US, so they can skirt around Trump's steep taxes on China. Advertisement China reported its gross domestic product grew 5.4% during the first three months of the year as companies rushed to import goods ahead of the tariffs. 3 President Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House in January. AP But the nation has faced a persistent deflation issue and a more hesitant consumer. In a sign of weak demand, imports to China fell 3.4% in May from the year before – a far drop from the 0.2% dip the month before and much worse than expectations. Advertisement That landed China's trade surplus at $103.2 billion last month, growing from $96.2 billion the month before. Imports from the US dropped more than 18%, shrinking China's trade surplus with the nation by 41.6% to $18 billion. 3 China's trade surplus reached $103.22 billion last month. AFP via Getty Images Meanwhile, Trump's top trade officials are set to meet with their Chinese counterparts for negotiations in London on Monday. It comes as tensions have reheated between the nations, with each accusing the other of breaching a temporary agreement reached in early May. The White House has accused China of failing to fulfill a promise to resume rare earth shipments, while Beijing has torched the US' export curbs on AI chips and its move to revoke Chinese student visas en masse. Fueling widespread uncertainty is a decision from a federal trade court late last month to block the majority of Trump's tariffs. The Trump administration quickly filed an appeal and demanded the court place a stay on the order in the meantime, which was granted, keeping the tariffs in place for now.
