The Adams School
P.O. Box 29
27 School Street
Castine, Maine 04421
326-8608
www.adamsschool.com
Let’s just
say that economics begin when the hunter-gatherers decide to settle
down and
farm. Oh, sure, nomadic tribes trading with one another, or even
swapping herds
of cattle and sheep from glen to glen to prevent over-grazing in the
highlands
(also known as rustling) have a certain rough system of exchanging
resources.
But in 7-8th grade social studies we’re examining economic
settlements, not the free-range variety. We have been simulating
economic
systems beginning with a simple, agrarian economy: 7 farms, each with
three
fields and two farmers, a standard yield of 5 conkers per field.
Harmony.
Sustainability. No money. No fancy technology. The known agrarian
micro-world
has enough food for its population and everyone is surviving just fine.
There
are no defined borders or awareness of neighboring states.
Sustainability,
however, is hard to achieve and hard to maintain. How long can this
last? The
Adams School of Economics is simulating models that are dynamic.
“What could happen to your simple lives?” I
asked the farmers. “What uncertainties do you need to plan for? What
are your
tools for coping with randomness and the unexpected?” Enter the
Malthusian
variables! Our farmers had good suggestions for effective tactics.
How about
entrepreneurialism: “How might you improve your farms? What is your
concept of
betterment? What are some good things that could happen, or that you
could make
happen?”
Having too
much or too little can be a problem: drought or deluge, overpopulation
or
under-population, insufficient land for the required crops, too much
land for
the current population to manage. Add locusts, stampedes of marauding
wildebeests, theft--trouble. To which someone proposed the concept of
fertilizer, which leads to improving crop yields, which can sustain
larger
populations, which can farm more land, raise more crops…have more
children. I
imagine the weevil population would be watching with interest. So many
things
to balance! More mouths to feed! Yikes! Life is full of incentives and
disincentives.
Our
simulation runs on “seasons” in which the locals make moves to cope and
resources are grown and consumed, followed by the injection of a new
concept or
event and the resupply of those resources—or not. So on Tuesday, in our
first
growing season, six farms decided to simply combine resources (and
liabilities!), while one farm traded some of their land for extra
crops. Then
we debriefed.
“We now
have three super farms and one original-sized farm,” I noted. Looking a
little
closer, we saw that the society had changed. The small farm had more
than
enough food to survive, leveraged by trading land. In their next
season, they
would need to restore their ratio of land-to-crop yield—or face
starvation. And
one of the super farms had lost food, but gained land: someone was
going
hungry. Economics is about scarcity, supply, and consumption.
Pestilence
entered the simulation. “Each farm will have to draw a card,” I
explained.
“They will draw either more land, with accompanying crop production, or
they
will draw a card for crop failure…and lose food.”
One by one, the farmers
drew. Now we had salvation for the
small farm, and hard times for one of the super farms. What’s more, the
entire society realized
that crops were disappearing from the overall economy, and land was
entering.
In other words, whatever affected one, affected all. “That’s not fair!”
said
one farmer. Things are not always fair. Economics is about cause and
effect,
not justice…as of yet.
Incomers
can throw things into a tizzy. “We are the Digigoths,” said a message
on
Wednesday. “We come from the East—and we are hungry. We usually drink
the blood
of our horses, but we’ll settle for your putrid conker porridge. Feed
us, or
we’ll kill all your children. Each farm must pay 7 conkers—or try and
defeat us
on the field of battle. Good luck with that, you pathetic farmers!” Can
emigration be far behind?
Other kinds
of protection, and protectionism, could arrive. “I am a warrior. I will
protect
you from invaders. In return for protection, you will feed me and my
knights
and call me King Beneficent. Each farm now owes me 5 conkers per
season.” Yes,
they always say they’ll be Beneficent, those monarchs. He has a younger
brother
named Maleficent. Can revolution be far behind?
Boom times
and busts are also in the offing. The society will grow more complex.
Money
will be printed; new roles emerge, like merchants and tradesmen. Not
everyone
can survive as a simple farmer; new tools will be invented; the rise of
the
merchant and manufacturing classes is on the horizon. Payrolls, taxes,
services, credit, and government join the evolution as we use our scale
model
to understand macro forces. On Tuesday, we already made a comparison
between
spending and stimulation: conker sales urge the expansion of
farming…kind of
like shopping after Thanksgiving. Economics is about conspicuous
consumption.
Yes,
whether it be in the form of nomadic tribes or hedge fund managers,
with their
ugly cattle and dreadful social graces, we’ll test whether “greed is
good.” Perhaps
there’s a future in dairy herds? There’s rain and pestilence in the
long-range
forecast. Conker prices are volatile; interest rates fluctuate. Land
prices are
on the rise; population too. Should the government subsidize the
conker/dairy/leather market? Might be time for a massive public works
project
to stave off unemployment and recession. Would a New Deal quell
barbarians at
the gates? More fundamentally, will 7th and 8th
graders
be able to balance their checkbooks?
—Todd
Thank you
Soccer
players and parents…for attending the awards night. Thank you Coach
Zach
for another great season!
No
Basketball
Practices next week…practices and games resume in December.
Grade
Reports for
Trimester One will be sent home on Friday, December 5th .
Have a
Harmonious Thanksgiving…from all of the staff and teachers! See
you in December.
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Monday – Ham & Cheese
Tuesday – Chop Suey, Green Beans, Italian Bread, Blueberry Crisp, Milk
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Monday – Macaroni & Cheese, Muffins, Broccoli, Fruit, Milk
Tuesday – Taco Lasagna, Corn, Italian Bread, Chocolate Pudding, Milk
Thursday – Pizza, Salad, Teddy Grahams, Apple Crisp, Milk
Friday – Ham Italians,
Sun Chips, Baby Carrots, Juice,
Brownie, Milk
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December
5 Term One Reports sent home.
9 7th & 8th graders, Centerpiece
activity
with Castine Garden Club,
15 Public Hearing/Meeting for new school
unit
plan: Emerson Hall,
17
Chorus sings for Castine
Men's Club,
18
Winter Concert,
24
see announcement
below:
Castine
Arts
Association
Annual Christmas Concert
For all Grades: The
Children’s Committee of the Castine Arts Association is looking for
young
singers to perform in this year’s “Castine Christmas.”
We will perform one song, and will be one of
the first groups to perform, so as not to keep our littlest ones out
too late.
The rehearsal schedule
is as follows:
November 24th,
December 1st,
December 3rd,
December 5th,
All rehearsals will be
held at the
Please call me if you
have any questions at 326-8396. Also, be
sure to send in either a walking
permission slip, or have a bus note ready for Charlie who can drop off
singers
on his bus run. For those students who play basketball…not to worry,
come and
practice with us for a few minutes before you head on over to the gym
at
Mrs.
Lameyer