The $700 Billion Bailout:
A Crisis of the Commons!
By
Thomas Schinkel
September 2008
In the midst of yet another spectacular crisis allow me to step back and take you to a small community way up in Northern Maine. The name of the town is Millinocket.
Background
It was early 2002, not more than five months after 9/11. The fellow who shared an office with me in an office building close to downtown Boston came in to see me. A practicing bankruptcy attorney, he had received a call from a colleague, a respected lawyer in Bangor, way up in Northern Maine. My colleague had known me for several years and he was familiar with my work in the office products and paper industry. That is why he wanted to talk to me.
Bankruptcy!
What was the call from Bangor all about? A giant problem had erupted in one of their wilderness communities in the North country. It was in the middle of an unusually cold, harsh winter, and The Great Northern Paper Mill of Millinocket had been forced to file for bankruptcy! The question he had, were there any consultants in the Boston area who could help figure out what to do? Oh, and don’t look for anybody to expect any big fees because we are all stressed to the max up here!
During the next twenty minutes, my neighbor briefed me on what he had learned. At the end of his pitch, he asked if I had an interest going up there with him to see if there was anything we could do. At various intervals in my own career I had come up against the forestry and paper industry but never from this angle. Not knowing what to expect, I figured that – if nothing else – this might be a good learning opportunity. To make a long story short, the next day we called the Bangor attorney, told him of our intentions and started driving North. The attorney in Bangor in the meantime, made several appointments for us so that we would make good use of our time while there. Eight hours later we checked into a motel in the center of Millinocket, getting ready for meetings the next day.
Pandemonium!
