A Happy Father’s Day to dads, some economic news, and

Posted By: David Fortier June 18, 2023

By David Fortier 

Come Sunday morning, Father’s Day will be here for those celebrating the day. I will have already received a gift from the kids who are extraordinarily generous to their dad. Thanks, guys. This celebration comes at the end of the week (or the beginning of the new week) when I will have retired from my teaching career—21 years—and started up on the next one, which is focused on journalism and publishing. More on that later. 

Local high schools celebrated their graduations earlier in the week. I know, these graduations happen every year and every year they the students get excited, power through the ceremony, and ramp up for the next phase of their lives. The school where I have taught had intended to celebrate on Saturday, but that celebration was postponed until Sunday, that’s correct, Father’s Day, so I will be there for part of the day, when I will experience, once again, that annual excitement. 

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And also this past week, the Bristol Farmer’s Market once again had its opening day on Centre Square on Saturday—having lucked out since the forecast was not a promising one and what we ended up with was a pleasant day, a little overcast, a bit breezy, overall lovely. 

I’m sure the folks in charge of the Zorba Festival at St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church were pleased with the day, too. Hedging our bets, Mary and I headed over on Friday evening, when it did rain, intending to beat the forecast.   

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Reading/listening: This week’s reading is a piece in one of the many newsletters offered by the Atlantic. The article, “Why it matters who caused inflation,” by Lora Kelley in The Daily, discusses the origins of our current bout with inflation and why appearances may be different from actualities–or some combination of both.

“Some economists are taking a closer look at the idea that corporations’ profit margins could be playing a role in keeping inflation high—especially after recent earnings calls in which corporations reported that profits are up even as they are selling fewer goods,” Kelley writes. 

This flies in the face of the conventional wisdom that “widespread consumer spending started in 2020 and persisted in the years that followed, causing demand to explode and prices to spike.” 

I am not providing a link to the article because it is only available to subscribers. However, I thought it would be important to share what is happening in economic circles that hasn’t really been addressed more fully in the news media as yet.   

Listening is a podcast from Capitalism Isn’t featuring “Is Technological Progress Good For Everyone? With Daron Acemoglu.” Acemoglu is the author of a new book, “Power and Progress: Our 1000-year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity. In the book, the renowned MIT professor of economics, along with co-author Simon Johnson, presents an argument that benefits from technological progress are shaped by how power is distributed in society. 

In the podcast, Acemoglu takes on technology and the challenges of ensuring that it benefits everyone, not just the wealthy and powerful. Each episode of the podcast ends with a conversation between the two hosts about their takeaways from the interview. In this one, it is interesting to listen to the two take different positions about what they have just heard. FYI: The podcast is presented by the University of Chicago, which has its own dedicated position on the merits of capitalism. Click here for the episode. 

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And have you noticed that July Fourth is almost upon us so that more and more firecrackers have been sounding closer and closer to home. 

“Come Sunday morning” is intended to be a weekly review, a recounting of the past week and an anticipation of week to come. Among its features will be reviews of old and new books, sharing of favorite podcasts, some family news, Bristol events and happenings and issues surrounding education, work and community journalism. He can be reached at dfortier@bristoledition.org. 

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