BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 21, 2021
In his new history of the Maine paper industry, “Shredding Paper: The Rise and Fall of Maine’s Mighty Paper Industry,” University of Southern Maine economics professor Michael Hillard argues that while competition from foreign markets played a role in the Maine paper industry’s decline, it was the takeover of Maine’s mills by outside firms seeking to maximize short-term profits that was the driving force behind the collapse of the industry. It didn’t have to be this way, Hillard said. While globalization, mechanization and even the shift from paper to digital were inevitable, they weren’t as disruptive as Wall Street’s need for short-term profits.