Just a few months ago, almost nobody talked about the Strait of Hormuz, much less worried about its effect on our lives.  Now, Iran threatens to close that narrow stretch of water in the Middle East. It’s the latest move in a growing international conflict over Iran’s possible development of a nuclear weapon. If theMore

The next big splash in the Republican presidential season will come on March 6, called “Super Tuesday,” when more GOP convention delegates will be selected than on any other single day.   In the meantime, the action turns from high-cost primaries to state caucuses, which are a relative bargain.  In February, there will be aMore

Correction appended below   The sales tax is one of the touchiest political issues.  Unlike the income or property tax, just about everybody pays it: rich and poor, resident and visitor — even the teenager who eats at McDonald’s. Almost every time a change to it is proposed, it sets off controversy. Recently, Gov. PaulMore

Maine is the oldest state in the Union. That simple statement may send an important message about efforts to keep or bring young people to the state. It could be a tough task, and it could be one doomed to fail. When the standard is median age – the age at which half the populationMore

The end of the year is a good time to correct some myths recently in the news. 1. Unemployment has never been so high for this long: For one thing, unemployment has been much higher – about 25 percent during the Great Depression of the 1930s. And back then it was above the current levels ofMore

Trying to strike a balance between cutting government programs and finding money to pay for essential services can be dangerous. Dangerous for the office holders, who have to decide what to cut and the taxes to pay for the rest. Dangerous for the people who are truly dependent on government help for basic health care.More

In the last three months, three storms have blacked out tens of thousands of electric customers in New England. Mayors can lose elections because of poor snow plowing, but can utility executives lose their jobs because of power outages? The president of Connecticut Light & Power, the largest electric company in the Nutmeg State, foundMore

Greece, Italy, much of the rest of Europe and the euro are big news these days. Why should Mainers or other Americans care?  Don’t we have enough of our own problems? The answer is that, while we have made-in-U.S.A. problems, they risk getting worse if the financial situation in Europe continues to deteriorate. Economists areMore

Correction: This story has been revised to correct the history of voter problems in Maine. Should we make voting as easy as possible so that more people will vote? If we make voting easier, will many ineligible people vote? When Maine votes on Nov. 8 on Question 1 — deciding whether to overturn the Legislature’sMore

To listen to talk about the world’s energy future, you might think that wind, solar and other renewable resources are the wave of the future.   A quarter century from now, green power would have replaced traditional fuels for electric generators. Not so, says the U.S. Department of Energy in its just-published annual International Energy Outlook. More