Economics Commons^™

Tobacco And Its Role In The Life Of The Confederacy, D. T. Smith

History Theses & Dissertations

This study examines the role that tobacco played in influencing Confederate policy during the American Civil War. Surprisingly, very little research has been done on this subject; historians have virtually ignored the influence of tobacco upon Southern economic interests between 1850 and 1870.

The southern tobacco-producing states grew 439,183,561 pounds of raw tobacco in 1860. Southern manufactured tobacco was worth $21,820,535 in 1860, and along with other agricultural products, especially cotton, played an important economic, political, and diplomatic role in the life of the Confederacy. The tobacco industry represented a very strong interest group in the Upper South during the …

Pelham Organizational Structure Evaluation Of Property Assessment And Tax, Umass Amherst Center Economic Development

Center for Economic Development Technical Reports

The goal of this report was to evaluate the governmental structure of the Town of Pelham, Massachusetts. The scope of the project focused on the organizational structure of Pelham’s assessing and collecting offices. A series of strategies were researched and offered as part of the report as a potential alternative to the present system.

Comparative Analysis Of Competitive Advantage For Holyoke Massachusetts, Umass Amherst Center Economic Development

Center for Economic Development Technical Reports

This report was made to provide an overview of how Holyoke, Massachusetts compared to the other fifteen towns and cities in Western Massachusetts. A snapshot matrix was developed that compared Holyoke with each of the towns in one matrix. In the snapshot matrix a standard hypothetical comparison was developed and used to compare the towns in each of the separate categories.

Impacts Of Decreased Military Spending In Western Massachusetts Communities: Some Preliminary Considerations, Center For Economic Development

Center for Economic Development Technical Reports

The following report addresses how the current changes in defense spending will impact communities in Western Massachusetts. It is evident that military spending will continue to decrease. This decrease, combined with the overall decrease in manufacturing industries is having an adverse impact on many communities. The degree of impact and how to offset, or respond to these changes is a concern of many community planners, and is the subject of this report. The information contained in this report is useful for local planners and citizens who may not necessarily have a background in regional economics or industrial development or military …

Business Matchmaking Feasibility Study - Just Find The Right Fit: Western Massachusetts, Center For Economic Development

Center for Economic Development Technical Reports

This study explores the feasibility of a business matchmaking program for Western Massachusetts focusing on import substitution. Business matchmaking programs currently operate throughout the U.S.A. and Canada. Their goal is to retain capital in the area and develop the area's economy by linking local businesses to each other, and with national and global markets. Twelve operating programs were investigated and assessed for their adaptability to the Western Massachusetts context. Area businesses and economic experts were interviewed to determine if a similar program would work here.

From the twelve program models examined, four were selected as being the most applicable, and …

The Paradox Of Ideology, Justin Schwartz

Justin Schwartz

A standard problem with the objectivity of social scientific theory in particular is that it is either self-referential, in which case it seems to undermine itself as ideology, or self-excepting, which seem pragmatically self-refuting. Using the example of Marx and his theory of ideology, I show how self-referential theories that include themselves in their scope of explanation can be objective. Ideology may be roughly defined as belief distorted by class interest. I show how Marx thought that natural science was informed by class interest but not therefore necessarily ideology. Capitalists have an interest in understanding the natural world (to a …

Functional Explanation And Metaphysical Individualism, Justin Schwartz

Justin Schwartz

A number of (present or former) analytical Marxists, such as Jon Elster, have argued that functional explanation has almost no place in the social sciences. (Although the discussion is framed in terms of a debate among analytical Marxists, the point is quite general, and Marxism is used for illustrative purposes.) Functional explanation accounts for what is to be explained by reference to its function; thus, sighted organism have eyes because eyes enable them to see. Elster and other critics of functional explanation argue that this pattern of explanation is inconsistent with "methodological individualism," the idea, as they understand it, that …

Toward A Sustainable Maine : The Politics, Economics, And Ethics Of Sustainability, Richard Barringer (Ed.)

Maine Collection

Toward A Sustainable Maine : The Politics, Economics, and Ethics of Sustainability

Richard Barringer, editor, Professor Emeritus at the University of Southern Maine

Edmund S. Muskie Institute of Public Affairs, University of Southern Maine, Portland, Maine, 1993.

The proceedings of a conference presented at Bowdoin College on March 19 and 20, 1993, by the Edmund S. Muskie Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Southern Maine, and by the Natural Resources Council of Maine. Ellen Baum, conference organizer.

Contents; Foreword by Richard Barringer / Welcome by Everett Carson / Global, Canadian, and Maine Perspectives / Sustaining Our Natural and …

R C Scott: A History Of African-American Entrepreneurship In Richmond, 1890-1940, Michael A. Plater

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

This study examines the socioeconomic aspects of ethnicity as a way to understand African-American entrepreneurship in the early twentieth century. In an attempt to separate the influence of ethnicity from the social and environmental elements that restrained many African-American entrepreneurs, the study focuses on the African-American funeral industry. The funeral industry provides a rare example of an industry that successfully operated on a voluntarily segregated basis. Sheltered from discrimination and racism, African-American funeral directors not only survived and surpassed their white counterparts, but also organized a national fraternity of economic and political elite who wielded significant power in the United …

To Separate The Tares From The Corn: Debts And Slaves In Post-Revolutionary Virginia, Philip George Swan

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

The Scramble For Gold: Monetary Regime Transformation In The 1870s, Giulio M. Gallarotti

Giulio M Gallarotti

No abstract provided.