Booknotes: The More Things Change...

(Editor's Note: I recently bought a copy of Ronald Banks's Maine Becomes a State: The Movement to Separate Maine from Massachusetts, 1785-1820, so I figured I'd kick off a new feature of the blog that will include thoughts on Maine-themed books I'm currently reading.)

Ronald Banks:

Economically, the District [of Maine] before the Revolution was poor. Even by
1782, according to Moses Greenleaf, the total wealth of the District was only
one-tenth of that of Massachusetts proper.

I guess the good news is that Maine has narrowed that wealth gap in recent years. The ratio is now more like 7 to 1, as Maine's Gross State Product (GSP) in 2008 was $49.7 billion, and Massachusetts's GSP in 2008 was $349.9 billion.

- John C.L. Morgan

Related: Booknotes: Thank You, New Hampshire (May 24, 2010)