In an analysis of Maine’s economic woes, a recent op-ed for the Bangor Daily News touched on an infamous problem in economic development: the natural resource curse. The piece supposed that Maine may be a victim of this curse, beholden to the whims of the timber industry. I think the author overstated the connection, but […]
There are a few staple topics for current Maine media: drugs, the paper industry, comments by Governor LePage, and the proposed national monument by Baxter State Park. So far, this blog has touched on the first three. I figure it is about time to talk about the fourth. Elliotsville Plantation, Inc. (EPI) wants to give […]
I’m working on an article about the national monument that will take a little longer to put together, so here’s a brief post to hold you over. Illegal logging is definitely bigger than I thought, at least. When I wrote last December about the outsourcing of Maine’s paper industry, I mentioned that some illegal timber is […]
The fallout of last month’s Panama Papers leak seems to only be growing. A massive leak of information from a Panamanian law firm that helped set up shell companies in tax havens turned out to include a lot of famous names. The stereotypical use for these firms is to hide money from tax authorities, sometimes […]
There are a lot of incredible facts about China’s economy. That they used more concrete between 2011 and 2013 than the U.S. did in the entire 20th century, for instance. Or that the government plans to lay off five to six million workers from state industries in the next two to three years. But here’s a […]
The Trans Pacific Partnership. A name simultaneously so grand and so vague that it’s easy to find it either ominous or inspirational, depending on your disposition. At the highest level, the TPP is pretty easy to understand. It’s a big free trade agreement—the biggest ever in fact—between some Pacific Rim countries. Start delving into the […]
Three weeks ago, this humble blog posted about the views of Representatives Chellie Pingree and Bruce Poliquin on the TPP. That post got a grand total of about 185 views, but I would like to think that Bruce Poliquin was one of them. In the article, I pointed out that Poliquin was hedging on his […]
This post continues a series of articles on the Trans Pacific Partnership and discusses the stances of Senators Susan Collins and Angus King on the issue. Read the first post, on Reps. Chellie Pingree and Bruce Poliquin, here. Susan Collins Figuring out Susan Collins’ stance on the TPP is not quite as easy as Chellie […]
Trade has become a punching bag for many politicians this election cycle. With many working class manufacturing regions around the country feeling left behind by the mysterious “globalization” that seems to be making other people so much money, our country’s ever-increasing propensity to buy things made elsewhere is an easy mark for scoring political points. […]
There may be no stronger ties to international issues than the military service of friends and family. The deployment of local National Guard units, being as connected to state and local communities as they are, offer particularly clear examples of how Maine is linked to global issues. This is the second of a series of […]
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