& Signs Up for Energy Service Company to Take the Next Step

GREENFIELD, MA – This week, the Massachusetts Division of Energy Resources (DOER) completed energy audits on almost all of the Town buildings. In addition, Greenfield Mayor Christine Forgey has signed a letter of interest that will bring Siemens, an Energy Service Company (ESCO), to Greenfield this fall to take the next steps in assessing what can be done to reduce the energy used by the Town buildings.

“This is an important milestone in the Greening Greenfield campaign because renovating the Town buildings will not only save the Town money, it will also reduce the Town’s climate change emissions,” says Christine Forgey, Mayor of Greenfield.

Why History Will Not Repeat (Part II)

Our situation is quite different from the early days of the depression. Yes, we have a credit crisis and are in a recession. All recessions can be traced back to overextension of credit. Business requires capital. Capital can come from investors in the form of equity ownership or from credit. Businesses use credit to purchase equipment, inventory, or expand into new markets and all sorts of other activities. People use credit to make major purchases such as a home, car, etc. During good economic times, businesses as well as consumers tend to overextend themselves.  When the economy slows, they retrench, creating your normal recession.

Lessons from the Past (Part 1)

The 1920's was a time of peace, invention and prosperity. New technologies drove economic growth. The radio, automobile, aviation, telephone, and the electric power grid became mainstream.  The Federal Reserve maintained an easy money policy.  Leverage was used by industries to fund the purchases of the new technology.  Stocks soared.  From August 24, 1921 to September 3,1929, stocks rose more than six-fold. Price earnings ratio reached 60. Investors used leverage to buy stocks on the margin. For every dollarinvested, they could purchase ten dollars of stock.  If a stock went up 1%, the margined investor would receive $10 in profits. Leverage of 20 to 1 was commonly used in real estate purchases.