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December 10, 2012 Edition

UMF professor urges sustainable forestry

Morgan Palmer

Andrew Barton, a professor of biology at the University of Maine at Farmington, recently published “The Changing Nature of Maine's Woods,” a book detailing the dynamic nature of forests in Maine an

  • It’s the relationship, not the sale, that creates value

    Doug Packard

    As crazy as the notion sounds, businesses that focus on selling actually decrease their chances of achieving long-term profit goals. This can happen because most prospects and customers automatically react negatively toward sales people.

  • VC fund honors three Maine firms

    The Small Enterprise Growth Fund, Maine's venture capital fund, recently honored three of its 19 portfolio companies for exemplary performance in leadership, achievement and public benefit.

  • Teller 2.0

    Matt Dodge

    At first glance, the two newest branches of Five County Credit Union might reflect hard times at the 56-year-old financial institution.

  • Organizational health goes beyond the bottom line

    Nobody who manages in today's business world needs me to remind them that success and survival are not guaranteed.

  • State revenues continue to drop

    Mal Leary

    Curtailment invoked to address budget gapsRevenues continue to fallSales, corporate income taxes lagThe new Legislature has taken office facing serious financial problems, including a funding gap that could reac

Today's Poll

Are you worried how the higher U.S. tariffs proposed by President-elect Trump could affect your business?
Poll Description

With the election of Donald Trump to a second term as president, it seems likely that the United States will impose major new tariffs on imported goods and materials.

A tariff is a tax, of course — though not truly a sales tax, as it's been called. For American businesses and consumers, however, the effect could be the same.

Under Trump's plan, businesses would have to pay a tariff of 10% to 20% on anything they import, and as much as 60% on imports from China. Typically, such extra costs get passed along to customers in the form of higher prices.

When other countries retaliate with tariffs of their own on U.S. exports, the impact on prices is compounded.

The Peterson Institute for International Economics, a nonpartisan think tank, issued an analysis in September of what all this could mean.

Among the findings: "Assuming other governments respond in kind, Trump’s 10 percentage point increase results in U.S. real GDP that is 0.9 percent lower than otherwise by 2026, and U.S. inflation rises 1.3 percentage points above baseline in 2025."

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