SUMMER UPDATE: Paul Krugman

So this past Monday I had the wonderful opportunity to go into Cambridge, where Paul Krugman and Tom Ashbrook (of NPR) were having a Q&A about Krugman's new book as well as his thoughts on the economy. For those of you who don't know Krugman, he is a Nobel Prize winning economist, author, and columnist for the New York Times.

The Harvard book store event took place in the nearby UU church

It's hard to tell in the picture, but the line to get seats was dozens long, and the entire chuch was packed by the time the event was set to begin. Krugman, one of the more outspoken voices against passivity in our current economic situation, drew greatly from the intellectual community around Harvard Square.

He reiterated many of the points he argues in his weekly columns, such as the need for greater stimulus and the comparison that must be drawn between austerity in the stuttering European economies and the moderate growth in the US economy (which received a stimulus that he called "not big enough").

Krugman's book, End this Depression Now!, is an attempt to persuade the voters in a dysfunctional political grid lock to support increased government spending rather than cuts to help reduce the deficit. According to Krugman, the economic crisis in the US is "easy" to fix, but progress is being single-handedly slowed by starkly polarized leaders and excessive fiscal conservatism.

School Year is Over

DISCLAIMER:

From this point on, I will be reporting on only my own awesome, political adventures, and not those directly tied to the school. Obviously this is because I won't be on campus all year, but still blog during the summer. So my posts that don't directly have to do with campus activities will be labeled "SUMMER UPDATE." Cool beans, glad we did this.

Green Up Joins 350

This past Saturday was 350's big Connect the Dots day of action, which took place all around the world. People sent in their images of climate change in their lives from countries from Uganda to New Zealand to Brazil and beyond. You can see more images HERE

We drove a couple of vans to Waitsfield, VT, where the crowd of people heard from farmers and non-profits. At the end of the day, we gathered together around a giant "dot" and had an aerial shot taken for the site.

 

We spent much of the day enjoying the weather and listening to speakers such as Sen. Bernie Sanders and Bill McKibben. It seems like the best place to see adorable dogs outside the shelter is an environmental rally. Of course, Ben & Jerry's had it's truck with free icecream, and of course, I went about three times. The Solar Bus was present to show support for alternative energy, which of course went along with 350's goal of bringing CO2 levels in the atmosphere down to a safe 350ppm.

Inside the Solar Bus

McKibben working outside the Solar Bus

Vermont loves their rallies!

Free Ice Cream!

So...many...puppies