We went for the first time this year to the Orono Bog Boardwalk on Monday morning. This is an absolute gem of a resource for the Penobscot Valley community, giving people easy access to a part of our Acadian landscape that is not often so easily visited. If you have never been there you will […]
A few years ago I was visiting the museum of a local Maine historical society. When the docent discovered I worked as an economist, he immediately wanted to show me their collection of early currency that had circulated in the community. His assumption was that an economist would, of course, be interested in money. I […]
Back in January I wondered out loud, Was the Internet a Good Idea? To my way of thinking the information technology (IT) revolution of the past 25 years has been a mixed blessing. It both created amazing tools for doing everyday tasks and introduced whole new means of mindless addiction and criminal opportunities. This IT […]
For some Mainers, the answer might be to stock up on Allen’s Coffee Brandy and buy a few lottery tickets. Others would pay off some credit card debt or put the money in the bank. Some might buy blankets and towels to give to the local humane society to better care for furry friends. A […]
Economists become famous by winning the Nobel Prize (technically the Swedish National Bank’s Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel) or becoming public intellectuals like John Kenneth Galbraith or Paul Krugman. But economists do not have to be famous to be important. Significant contributions come in many guises. The most important economist you […]
Robert Gordon’s 2016 book The Rise and Fall of American Growth is a comprehensive history of “the U.S. standard of living since the civil war.” Gordon, a Northwestern University economist, details changes in consumption of food, clothing, shelter, and transport during a period when Americans experienced unprecedented improvement in quality of life. From brutally difficult, […]
In many faith communities it is common for adherents to sacrifice. The Shakers embraced celibacy, though some might find that a flawed “business plan” for the endurance of the sect. Catholics for years avoided eating meat on Fridays, a practice good for fish mongers. Likewise, many Jews and Muslims forsake pork in their diets. Dietary […]
When most people hear the word economics they think of money. I remember visiting a local Maine historical society and the excitement the caretaker felt when he learned that I was an economist. He immediately assumed that I would want to see their collection of 19th Century currency in circulation in Maine. I did not. […]
By the middle of the 20th Century the world had endured two world wars and a global economic depression unprecedented since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. With the defeat of various forms of Fascism in World War II, Soviet and Chinese forms of Communism vied with Democratic Market Capitalism to dominate the social and […]
In Part I of this series I explored the idea that the British vote to leave the European Union may be understood as a rejection of the economic foundation of the post-World War II era. The prevailing view has been that economic growth, primary reliance on markets to allocate resources efficiently, free trade, and global […]
