Recessions and Depressions

Latest Articles

Beer on a budget

In defense of expense
The beer industry is generally considered recession-proof, since people are still going to drink beer when times get tough. But has the same been true for more expensive craft beer in the recent recession?
By JOSH SMITH | May 19, 2010

Tanked

A few guppies short
The term "think tank" looks as if it signifies something impressive.
By AL DIAMON | March 17, 2010

Get smart

Budget problems? It's the stupidity, stupid.
There are lots of theories about what's wrong with Maine's economy.
By AL DIAMON | March 10, 2010

Bay State's top lobbyists

Talking Politics
Nearly everyone in Massachusetts felt the pinch of the recession in 2009 — even Beacon Hill lobbyists had to tighten their belts.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | February 08, 2010

A nation hooked on cars

Vroom! Vroom!
The car is at the center of many of our troubles — our addiction to oil, the warming of the planet. Car accidents do incalculable damage.
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | January 27, 2010

Trying times for Obama

Tough times for the nation
It was only a matter of time before President Barack Obama turned into a deficit hawk. But it is a measure of the desperation sparked by Scott Brown's election to Ted Kennedy's old Senate seat that Obama hatched before the conclusion of the 2010 congressional elections and unveiled a spending freeze.
By EDITORIAL | January 27, 2010

What’s next for Cicilline?

After a couple of tough years — and some jabs from Buddy — how bright is his political future?
Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline rode into office seven years ago as the fresh-faced anti-Buddy. Bleach for a soiled City Hall.
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | January 21, 2010

Instead of cuts: guts

Raise taxes on the rich? Only one candidate says ‘yes’?
Let’s assume, reader, that you’re concerned about economic and social justice. For those in real need — people who are poor, sick, old, mentally ill, addicted, disabled — you want decent care. You’re concerned, too, about proper funding of schools, community colleges, and university campuses.
By LANCE TAPLEY | January 06, 2010

Looking back, going forward

A diverse display for 2010
Economic recession and post-racial themes abound in Boston’s early 2010 theater repertoire.
By MADDY MYERS | January 13, 2010

2009: The year in cheap eats

A good year to dine 'On the Cheap,' for many reasons
In the wake of the Bush Recession, it's been gratifying to spend 2009 noting how many good budget-priced restaurants Boston has.
By MC SLIM JB | December 24, 2009

Worth the gamble?

A push for full-scale Vegas-style casinos is in the cards again. Can poker and craps save a state in freefall?
Just three years after Rhode Island voters killed plans for a full-scale, Vegas-style casino, big-time gambling is in the cards again.
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | December 16, 2009

Even more recession recipes

Big Fat Whale
Scamfast
By BRIAN MCFADDEN | November 25, 2009

City Table

Sampling the perks of a recession
I'm enjoying this restaurant recession more than the last one.
By ROBERT NADEAU | November 18, 2009

Has Obama peaked? No, he hasn't

Obama’s days of greatest power and popularity lie before him. But be warned: he might not do what you want with it.
Barack Obama's popularity should not be judged by the day-to-day, media-driven vagaries of politics — nor by the wishful thinking of his opponents.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | November 12, 2009

Con Sol

Shining light on a secret Iberian bargain
Three-year-old ethnic bargain spot Con Sol snuck under reviewers' radar with an Iberian menu that draws mostly on Portuguese-American food — a cuisine that feels native to long-time Cantabrigians, but otherwise is little known north of New Bedford and Fall River or west of Provincetown.
By ROBERT NADEAU | October 14, 2009

Protestors head to the G-20 summit

Global Outrage
As President Obama prepares to ask representatives of the world's largest economic powers for more money to help reverse the global recession, thousands of activists will take to the streets to protest the policies of the G-20 and its members, who are meeting in Pittsburgh on Thursday and Friday.
By JEFF INGLIS | September 23, 2009

First look at James Cameron's Avatar

Titanic Gamble
James Cameron captained the biggest box-office smash of all time, his Titanic having grossed nearly $2 billion worldwide. But that was 12 years ago, long before the recession appeared on anyone's radar.
By BRETT MICHEL | August 26, 2009

The Mighty Wind

New England is answering Obama's clarion call and beginning to harvest its most viable renewable energy source. In Rhode Island, can Deepwater also blow life into our ailing economy?
The Rhode Island recession, among the worst in the country, has become something of a national curiosity: how could such a little state be in such big trouble?
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | August 19, 2009

The sunny side of the street

Politics and other mistakes
It's good to be known as an optimist. It keeps people from realizing you're actually a boob.
By AL DIAMON | July 22, 2009

Some kind of salvation

Politics and other mistakes
In 2008, Sean Faircloth, then a state representative from Bangor, lost his bid to become Maine's attorney general, mostly because lots of legislators questioned his credibility. When your credibility is so shaky that even politicians notice, you have a serious problem. It's sort of like if atheists complained about your ungodliness.
By AL DIAMON | June 17, 2009

Uniquely human

The social underpinnings of A Chorus Line
When A Chorus Line won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1976, America was experiencing what was then the worst economic downturn since the Depression, vibrant women's-lib and gay-rights movements, and such trends in popular psychology as the encounter group.
By MEGAN GRUMBLING | June 03, 2009

More recession recipes

Big Fat Whale
Pity chips and fancy beans
By BRIAN MCFADDEN | May 20, 2009

Tax time?

New taxes may be needed. Plus, why Massachusetts can take pride in the Serve America Act.
State House of Representatives leaders have served the Commonwealth well with their austere new budget: they have shown us the tremendous sacrifices we will need to make, and the drastic cuts that will be put into effect, if we don't raise new revenues.
By EDITORIAL | April 22, 2009

Do it to debt

Spending money to make money?
A friend of mine walked into the local bar during a recent happy hour and announced, "I'm furious at IGA."
By AL DIAMON | April 01, 2009

The Big Hurt: We floss econo

Cleaning up rap's act could equal big savings
You might recall a slew of ominous articles in 2007 proclaiming that hip-hop was through. Sales were way down, and the culprits were clear: jewelry, violence, and naughty dancing.
By DAVID THORPE | March 11, 2009

Public colleges get the shaft

Fewer teachers. Bigger classes. More applicants. Huge tuition hikes. the outlook for Rhode island higher ed is bleak .
When it came time to pick a college, Thomas Ahrens just couldn't pass up the relative affordability of a University of Rhode Island education.
By MEAGHAN WIMS | February 25, 2009

Funeral recession

These days, practically nothing is immune to the economy's woes — not even the death industry.
These days, practically nothing is immune to the economy's woes — not even an industry that caters to what would seem to be the one recession-proof commodity: death.
By JULIA RAPPAPORT | March 03, 2009

The wrong man for hard times

State House Democrats need to stand up to the governor
Most Democrats see Barack Obama’s inauguration as a clear-cut, welcome turn to the left.
By LANCE TAPLEY | February 04, 2009

What's wrong with Augusta?

Whatever it is, it isn't new. Things were just as screwed up a decade ago — in the opposite direction
Charlie Colgan couldn't predict a recession if its arrival was signaled by warning lights and sirens.
By AL DIAMON | January 29, 2009

Review: New In Town

Predictable squalls of melodrama and touching resolve flow like "poop through a tall Swede"
In the teeth of the recession, this fluffy Renée Zellweger vehicle uncorks a fairy-tale panacea for the latest CNN economic update.
By TOM MEEK | January 27, 2009