Author: Barry D. Wood

Barry D. Wood is a writer, teacher and journalist in Washington, DC. His focus is the global economy and financial markets. He has reported from 60 countries and specializes in US China relations, Eastern Europe and Southern Africa. His 2017 book is Exploring New Europe, A Bicycle Journey.
economic transformation

Creative Destruction…America’s Losers and Winners

American Dispatch The Daily Friend August 9, 2026 Creative Destruction: America’s Losers and Winners OPINIONS    – LISTEN TO THIS Joseph Schumpeter in 1942 coined the term creative destruction where innovation renders old economic models obsolete.  Technology marches on. Embrace the new or die. Companies that are slow or fail to adapt die slowly or suddenly. Textiles are an example. In early 19th century New England there were dozens … Continue reading Creative Destruction…America’s Losers and Winners

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Kalamazoo

The Summer of 1971

(The Weekend Financial Times Saturday had a nice feature featuring stories from contributors about a summer that changed them. Reading, I was prompted to write my own recollection.) The Summer That Changed Me It was the summer of 1971. I was teaching at Western Michigan University and it had been a tumultuous year. Needing to decompress and ponder my future, together with my girlfriend I … Continue reading The Summer of 1971

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American History

Literary New England and Its Satanic Mills

WD Howells was 23 in August 1860 when he traveled from the forests of frontier Ohio to New England to glimpse where his literary idols lived and worked. A junior editor in Columbus, Howells achieved notoriety from writing a campaign biography for Abraham Lincoln, the Republican party’s candidate for president.  The 170-page profile was mostly a collection of Lincoln speeches that introduced the Illinois lawyer to … Continue reading Literary New England and Its Satanic Mills

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