Alissa Quart writes about the effect of culture and individual choice, while Joseph Stiglitz focuses on the influence of public policy. Both recently spoke in the Hudson Valley.

Remembering Pauline Oliveros, plus a comparison of two local meetup groups.

The Ulster County Industrial Agency, whose job it is to promote economic development, usually by offering tax incentives to developers it deems worthy, recently had a membership shakeup.

For the past year, Norwegian Air has been making a big splash in the Hudson Valley economy with its inexpensive fares for transatlantic flights between Stewart Airport in Newburgh and a handful of European destinations. But the highly leveraged Scandinavian discount carrier’s plans — and indeed its very independence — may be in jeopardy.

What if a public body advertised and held an annual hearing about an important policy and no one showed up to suggest changes? And then people complained about the implementation of the unchanged policy, going so far as to accuse the members of the public body of being corrupt? That’s what’s been going on in Ulster County.

A congressional district where a decade ago less than a million dollars was being spent every two years is this year facing $20 million and probably more in political spending on the general election.

Science and engineering dean Dan Freedman is convinced that 3D manufacturing will continue to have a major impact “on any industry where you make things.” In manufacturing, it’s a design tool, he says, applicable to a very wide variety of problems and a variety of situations.

How do you embrace change in a small city that’s been around for a long time? Carefully. Very carefully, with the ideas of lots and lots of different people.

Hipster clubhouse or birthplace for disruptive change? Or both? The former Kingston headquarters building of the Girl Scouts Hearts of the Hudson, Inc., on the corner of Clinton Avenue and St. James Street on the fringe of Uptown Kingston, was purchased in early May by the Good Work Institute, Inc., a 501(c)3 non-profit originally spun off from Etsy.

Seeing so many of our near-adult children seek fame and fortune in New York City, we in the Hudson Valley sometimes neglect the traffic coming the other way. Aren’t these newcomers also seeking more successful lives? Without these folks, there’d be a much less vibrant and less pricey market for real estate.