Resource peripheries are economic regions and communities created around resource extraction industries prone to boom-bust cycles. These regions are traditionally studied on a national and world regional scale, but in this study, the sub-national scale is considered through a study of Maine and its economic position in New England and the United States. Maine’s economy was formed on the back of the forestry and fishing industries which created a long-term dependence that has led to economic deficiency. The goal of this research is to analyze the different ways that this economic marginalization has affected Maine over the past fifty years. This entails an evaluation of GDP, household income, rent, mortgage, export, and import data to establish patterns of economic growth and stability. By studying sub-national resource peripheries, resource management and economic aid policies can be made more specific and effective as the economic dynamics within nations are analyzed. Additionally, this study will contribute to the discipline of economic geography by broadening the discourse on resource peripheries through the study of a new geographic area.
Boom and Bust: An analytical evaluation within economic geography of an American resource periphery: Maine, 1970-2020