I recently suggested that one solution to the crisis of our age is a shift in economic paradigms to one called Sustainable De-growth. To understand fully the implications of de-growth, we need to see where the phenomenon of growth comes from. A new book by Swiss economic historian Matthias Schmelzer provides deep insights into the […]
The last 250 years have been most unusual in human history and the time since the end of World War II has been incredible. Our ancestors would not recognize our lives today in their wildest dreams. In my lifetime, the population of humans on the planet has nearly tripled, from 2.6 billion to over 7.1 […]
I don’t know if the leading candidates for the American Presidency are big on reading history, but I would like to recommend to them five books to read before taking the office. These provide wisdom and insight that would help our new President do their job well. My first suggestion is William Cronon’s Changes in […]
(A version of this ran as an OpEd in the Bangor Daily News on November 24, 1994. The changes here update the data on inequality and income.) In his book, “Changes in the Land,” historian William Cronon details how Native Americans and early European colonists of North America used and affected the landscape. One of […]
It was an honor to give the Geddes Simpson Memorial Lecture at UMaine last week. In the lecture I put forth the proposition that the State of Maine adopt an open firearms season on chickadees under which every holder of a hunting license could shoot an unlimited number of chickadees during the year. After all, the […]
Unlike Maine Governor Paul LePage, I believe that when it comes to energy policy you can “fix stupid,” assuming we know who specifically needs to be fixed. The reality is that Maine’s energy challenges are not as simple as the governor would have us believe; they are part of a much larger national and global […]
Maine has been graced with many famous scientists, particularly in the summer months when they enjoyed the relaxation of Maine’s coast, mountains, and lakes. Many people would think first of Rachel Carson when naming a famous Maine scientist, and her summers at Newagen certainly influenced her research and writing. Less well known but equally important […]
