I am writing this little epistle the day before Thanksgiving (you are probably reading it a few days after). It is a time when others pause to count their blessings, economists pause to contemplate the prospects for the upcoming Christmas shopping season (which should be a really good one, by the way), and all of us feast on a bounty of culinary delights. I am going to depart from that time-honored tradition of obsessing over the “Friday after” shopping numbers and offer a bit of Thanksgiving thinking (with an economist’s slant, of course).
The Pilgrims landed in 1620. Within a couple of decades, the Massachusetts settlers established Harvard University, thus placing an early and important priority on education. They also provided schools for their younger children from the very outset. In so doing, they laid the foundations for the magnificent complex of centers of learning that now dot the entire sweep of majestic purple mountains and fruited plains. A well-educated citizenry is vital to our quality of life, and education at all levels remains the key to our future growth and prosperity. It all started with the Pilgrims, and for that we can be thankful.
The early settlers, according to popular lore and legend, learned crop cultivation from the early Native Americans. They embraced this idea and spawned an aggressive industry that would dominate the land that would become the United States for more than three centuries. While we have now moved well beyond the days when rural America was preeminent in the economy, we are still the bread basket to the world. Moreover, our consistent quest to improve the quality and increase the quantity of our food production has lead to many scientific advances, including the forerunners of modern biotechnology. There is, in fact, an unbroken string of innovation dating from our origins to the miracles of modern agriculture, genetics, and even medicine. Once again, we can thank the Pilgrims.
With the early settlers to Plymouth also came the household industry that had long existed in Europe. These artisans and their trades were the precursors to the Industrial Revolution and the continuing cycle of innovation that has brought us to the Information Age at the dawn of a new Millennium. Many of the amazing things that now occur on a daily basis—the forces that have generated such impressive and unprecedented gains in productivity during recent times—are but logical extensions of the ingenuity of days gone by. Let’s thank the Pilgrims one more time.
We can even attribute the beginnings of globalization and the resulting contemporary engine of economic growth to these hearty souls. After all, they traversed an ocean under the worst of conditions to establish a new outpost. Within a few years, they had fostered vigorous channels of trade, both nearby and across the Atlantic. (I might also mention that they did so in a very peaceful fashion.) Another nod of thanks to the Pilgrims.
Indeed, it is clear that the seeds of much of what we enjoy and marvel at today were planted on the coast of Massachusetts almost 400 years ago. We have much to be thankful for during this holiday season—the highest level of global economic growth on record, millions of new jobs this year alone, the most productive society in the history of the world, and boundless prospects for the future. We should also, however, recognize that the cornucopia of economic delights with which we are granted does not extend to every one. There are major concerns that need to be addressed.
But enough about “the economics of Thanksgiving” or “the life and times of our economic forefathers.” I want to make a rare departure from all things economic to say how truly thankful I am for my wonderful family and the joy they bring to me at all times. I have never been more blessed than I am at this very moment. I hope these few days of respite, feasting, and football affords you an opportunity to also consider those closest to you and how they brighten your days. Happy Thanksgiving!!