National History Day in Maine held their first ever virtual State Contest May 2-4. Nearly 700 students from across the state participated in one of three regional contests that took place earlier this year. Finalist from these events were invited to compete in the state contest that was originally slated to take place in-person at […]

Professor Philip Trostel, professor at the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center and the school of economics at the University of Maine, joined Amanda Rector, Maine state economist, and Andrew Crawley, assistant professor of the school of economics at the University of Maine, on Maine Calling to discuss which indicators they are tracking in order to […]

President Donald Trump signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act into law on March 27, 2020. Contained within the bipartisan legislation was the establishment of direct cash payments for many Americans amounting to $1,200 with an additional $500 for each child. As Congress moves towards bipartisan agreement on a ‘phase 4’ relief […]

On Thursday, Phil Trostel, professor in the School of Economics and the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center virtually sat down with WABI via Zoom to discuss Maine’s unemployment numbers and to speculate what will happen to the economy when Maine “reopens for business” after the Covid-19 lockdowns are eventually lifted. He said that while we […]

Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center research associate, Katheryn Ballingall was cited in an article in the Portland Press Herald titled “Smartphone, traffic data reveal sharp reduction in Mainers’ mobility.” The article discusses how the coronavirus pandemic has drastically affected traffic patterns throughout the state of Maine as Mainer’s shelter in place. Each county in the […]