A quarterly magazine covering economic issues with style and substance. Regional Review features in-depth articles on topics such as immigration, credit card debt, the estate tax, and the future of New England's fishing industry. Opinion pieces, book reviews, economic analyses, and reports from cities and towns in the region are also featured. We make economics interesting.

Accidents Will Happen by Carrie Conaway
Improving safety in the workplace takes more than good intentions. It requires all parts of the economy—businesses, goverment, and employees—working together.

An Economist Reports from Baghdad by Chris Foote
A Boston Fed economist chronicles his three-month stint helping to stabilize the Iraqi economy and put its economic institutions on a solid foundation.

Focus on the Region by Yolanda Kodrzycki and Pingkang David Yu
Although New England still gets more than its share of defense prime contract dollars, the recent rise in U.S. defense spending will likely have a smaller regional impact than in the past.

Observations
Bringing home the gold; a bill of mental health; death of the payphone; index overstock

Letter from Carrabassett Valley, Maine by Rebecca Zicarelli

Perspective by Peter Andreas
Border security has become increasingly important since 9-11. Yet the benefits of globalization depend on moving people and goods across national boundaries. How can we improve border security without losing the benefits of openness?

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THIS ISSUE

Protecting ourselves and our loved ones is instinctive. But keeping out of harm’s way also has economic implications— for individuals and for the nation.

In Accidents Will Happen, Carrie Conaway looks at the drivers of safety in the workplace. She chronicles the improvements and pitfalls in safety and finds that legislation and regulation, insurance, economic change, and company culture all play a part in ensuring a safe working environment.

Security took on a new meaning in the United States after the September 11 terrorist attacks. Brown University Professor Peter Andreas explores the resulting tension between public safety and international trade in Border Security in the Age of Globalization. He argues that in improving border protection, we should take care to recognize the impediments to economic integration and the benefits that this integration brings.

Another consequence of September 11 is the dramatic rise in federal spending on defense. Given the region’s concentration of defense contractors, Yolanda Kodrzycki and Pingkang David Yu ask whether the boost in defense outlays will translate into a windfall for New England states in Focus on the Region. Looking back at trends in spending, Kodrzycki and Yu determine that the impact on New England will likely be less than in previous defense buildups.

Finally, this past summer, Boston Fed economists Richard Kopcke and Chris Foote spent time working as economic advisors in Iraq. In An Economist Reports from Baghdad, Chris Foote mixes an analysis of the problems facing the Iraqi economy with tales of day-to-day life in a very dangerous corner of the world.

Cathy E. Minehan
President, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston

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