As I was channel surfing a few months ago, I stopped to watch a new Discovery Channel reality show called Gold Rush. Since then I have seen every episode. The show is now in its second season, and it is one of this network’s most popular programs. “Reality” is a misnomer since Gold Rush is… | more |
No Place is So Beautiful that the "Magic of the Marketplace" Can't Ruin It
Estes Park, Colorado, is the gateway town to Rocky Mountain National Park. Much of its downtown was destroyed by flood in July 1982 when the Lawn Lake Dam burst. It was soon rebuilt, and those who oversaw the reconstruction did a good job. People still live in or close to the central business district, and… | more |
Every time we visit Pennsylvania, we notice the air pollution. According to a recent study by the Natural Resources Defense Council and Physicians for Social Responsibility, Pennsylvania’s air is the second most toxic in the nation. Much of the pollution comes from coal and oil-fired power plants in Pennsylvania and nearby states, but there are… | more |
NBC recently aired a show called America’s Next Great Restaurant. Contestants, each of whom hoped to open a restaurant chain, were put through a series of tests to see whose idea had the best chance for success. A panel of judges eliminated one person at the end of each program, until the last one standing… | more |
Elko, Nevada: Ranches, Mines, and Mountains
We first heard about Elko, Nevada from a couple we met on a trail in Zion National Park. While trading travel stories, they said that the Ruby Mountains outside Elko were spectacular. We were at the beginning of a long road trip and had no particular itinerary, so we kept Elko and the Rubies in… | more |
A Nation in Decline?: Part 4: Mother Earth, What Have We Done to You?
When we are on the road, Karen usually drives. I plot out the directions before we leave and write them down on the notepad most motels provide next to the telephone. Even though the route might be straightforward, I get nervous that we will miss a turn, and within a short time I reach… | more |
The motor force of capitalist economies is the accumulation of capital—the drive by businesses to make as much profit as possible and use as much of this profit as they can to expand their operations. The growth of capital is built into the nature of the system; it is relentless and never-ending. To justify this… | more |
[Note: We have been staying in hostels, and internet connections are poor. So I can’t upload pictures. You can see some on my facebook page, which is public] The earth in the western United States is flush with minerals. Coal in Colorado and Wyoming. Copper in Arizona and New Mexico. Uranium in Utah and Arizona.… | more |
In light of the interest in the national parks of the United States generated by Ken Burns’ new PBS documentary, I thought that readers might be interested in what I wrote about the parks in my book, Cheap Motels and a Hot Plate: An Economist’s Travelogue. I will have some additional thoughts after I view… | more |
A Dirty Little Secret in Boulder, Colorado
This first appeared on Counterpunch for September 15, 2009, under the title “Up in Wood Smoke.” Residents of Boulder, Colorado take pride in the city’s livability. The town has won “more accolades than any other city in America for its recreation, culture, health, business climate, and overall quality of life.” It has been voted “Number… | more |