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Economic Decision-Making
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Every day, individuals make decisions, big and little, that affect how our economy functions and grows. Important decisions are made by entrepreneurs who establish and run all kinds of businesses — from a dog-walking service to a corner grocery store to a small manufacturing facility to a multi-plant corporation. Entrepreneurs make decisions about

  • what service or product to produce;
  • what method to use to produce the product or service;
  • how to finance production; and
  • how to market or sell the product or service.

Over time, as a result of these decisions, we are able to produce more and better goods and services, and produce these goods and services more efficiently. Here are the profiles of three entrepreneurs who made just these kinds of decisions.

Francis Cabot Lowell
 Francis Cabot Lowell
Innovative capitalist and visionary textile manufacturer
Colonel Albert Pope
 Colonel Albert Pope
Pioneer in production of bicycles and
automobiles
Kenneth Olsen
 Kenneth Olsen
Pioneer in computer design and
networking
 

Enterprising Women
Women also helped shape the landscape of business in New England and in America. To learn about these women entrepreneurs, we recommend visiting the Enterprising Women exhibition web site.

For an overview of all economic decision-making in New England, see the Rising Standards Gazette, which provides perspective on the evolution of New England’s economy from 1600 to the present.

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Profiles of entrepreneurs are available as portable document format files (PDFs). To view and print PDFs, you need Adobe's free Acrobat Reader software.

  

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