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Part of a series on economic recovery strategies and techniques for assessing, managing, and mitigating the impacts of economic decline resulting from plant closures, substantial layoffs, or plant relocation, this paper presents a model local leaders can use to analyze, plan, and organize activities. As a means of illustrating the kinds of impacts that may be expected and the application of the model, recent research into the psychological, social, demographic, economic, and fiscal impacts of rapid economic decline is reviewed. The research indicates that impact varies with conditions in the community, the extent of change in needs or demands outside the community, and characteristics of the source of impact. It is recommended that communities monitor for signs of change and organize for local control when decline is anticipated. The model suggests four options for local leaders to consider when economic decline is anticipated/occurring to minimize negative and maximize positive impacts: (1) political action to influence state and federal legislation, policies, and programs; (2) negotiation for impact assistance from the source of impact; (3) changes in the setting, such as worker ownership; and (4) passive nonaction. This material can also be applied to slow growth situations where problems may be similar. (NEC)

1Boy Crusoe

By Allan Eric

Also published as" A Yankee Crusoe" . A 15 year old hard working and studious farm boy finds the lure of adventure on the seas as a merchant seaman more than he can resist. This is his story. " I was born in a little town in the State of Maine, near the close of the Civil War. My boyhood life did not differ materially from that of the average farmer's son in the remote country districts of New England--except, perhaps, that I read more and thought more. Hard work on the rugged soil, two terms each year in the little yellow country schoolhouse, a day's fishing now and then filled the early years of my life full to over-flowing. " What he gets is enough excitement and adventure to overflow his wildest dreams. How he experiences disaster and uses his wits and knowledge to overcome every problem makes for a great read. - Summary by Phil Chenevert