Readers of Stirring the Pot know that I am deeply concerned about the issues of global climate change and inequality in the United States. Climate change, or the larger issue of global change, is an existential threat to modern human civilization. Inequality strikes at the very heart of the American ideal of “liberty and justice […]
One narrative about the Yellow Vest protests in France is that politicians should not adopt energy taxes to change behaviors that lead to climate change. In this telling, the political costs of wise energy policy are too high. This is an overly simple reading of the French experience and is a convenient excuse for those […]
We know when it is a Congressional election year. Like clockwork, in the mail arrives a letter from Maine Second District Representative Bruce Poliquin. The envelope boldly declares: “Public Document Official Business.” At first the letter is a puzzle. What “official business” do we have with this office? Then we remember. Mr. Poliquin uses the […]
I first encountered the idea that the future was something one could study in 1971 from historian Roger Howell Jr. In one way or another, thinking about the future informed much that I have written about since, including here in Stirring the Pot. In my way of thinking about the future, I believe there should […]
Mailboxes are flooded with direct mail fliers. The roadsides are littered with plastic signs. We are admonished to Vote Yes On Question 1 on November 7. This is one of the clearest examples of rent seeking behavior I have ever seen. It is text book quality. Rent seeking occurs when an economic actor, in this […]
When I was teaching, I used to joke with students that my classes were particularly demanding because I wanted to be sure they would succeed in the real world so that they could pay for my Social Security checks. Economists are supposed to believe that self interest is the dominant human motivator. I was only […]
The narrative goes something like this: The Maine Legislature and Governor require all Maine schools to provide certain “essential” services. This is out of a sense of fairness for all Maine school children, wherever they may live. Everyone is entitled to a minimum education. Many localities struggle to pay the costs of these minimum services […]
The trouble with taxes is that no one likes to pay them. We want the services of government (good roads, public schools, national defense, a functioning court system, etc.) but would rather that someone else pay for these things. Yet taxation is necessary in modern society. Taxes are needed to fund what economists call public […]
One of the first blogs I did for Stirring the Pot was “Maine Roads Stink.” The blog confronted our ambivalence in Maine about how and by how much we fund transportation infrastructure. We complain about roads and bridges, particularly during mud season, but we want someone else to pay. In particular, we fail to ask […]
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 […]
