There aren’t many foods more closely associated with Maine than the lobster. So it’s pretty scary that this valued American crustacean could one day soon become a Canadian treasure- a change that could have a devastating impact on Maine’s local economy… While we can’t know for sure what the future holds, it seems that as ocean temperatures continue to increase, lobsters will likely keep moving north, study researcher Malin Pinsky, of Rutgers University, told Business Insider… At a rate of 43 miles per decade, it could only be 30 years or so until Maine lobsters are mostly in Canadian waters… Two factors will impact how quickly this happens, Pinsky told Business Insider: Greenhouse gas production and the rate of ocean temperature increase. If temperatures and gasses continue to rise, Pinsky says lobsters moving to Canada is, “not out of the question.”
How Student Loan Debt is Dragging Down the Economy
Student-loan balances have skyrocketed over the past decade, and that could have a very negative effect on the economy. Outstanding student loans have nearly quadrupled since 2004, to just under $1.2 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York… This is having a crippling effect on economic activity, says Barbara O’Neill, a specialist in financial resource management for Rutgers University… Fewer people are buying homes and cars, O’Neill says, because large portions of their income are being eaten up by student loans. They’re also less likely to start the small businesses that provide jobs and services that drive the economy… “It has tremendous effects,” O’Neill said. “There’s also evidence entrepreneurial activity is down. When you have that big student-loan debt over your head, you’re less likely to take risks.”
