Index by Issue

2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001
Previous issues

July 2008

Farmland Prices

• Making hay off the land
  Farmland prices are skyrocketing across the Ninth District. Many worry that the boom can’t last, and what consequences might lurk if it doesn’t.
• This space for rent. Bring your wallet, unless I know you.
  Farmland rental rates lag, but might be sprinting to catch up.
• Swap meet
  How a real estate law has driven up farmland prices.
• Hedging their bets
  Farmers have more tools to manage risk, and are using them.
• Outside the winner’s circle
  High land and crop prices are benefiting a lot of farmers, but hurting some—badly.

Ninth District Features

• Turning carbon into cash
  Offsetting greenhouse-gas emissions is a burgeoning district industry with an uncertain future.
• Common descent
  Flight delays common at large airports also afflict regional airports in the district.

May 2008

Tech Transfer

• University Tech Transfer: Have I Got A Business Idea For You
  District universities strive to license technology to industry, but their efforts may not yield the desired results.
  Sidebar: The Few, The Risky
  Should universities invest resources in creating startups to exploit licensed technology?
• Old-fashioned Tech Transfer
  Licensing isn’t the only way for industry to tap into university knowledge.

District Features

• Iron Range rebirth: A new lease on life, or just déjà vu?
  Higher prices, global demand trigger Iron Range and U.P. mining projects.
• Store clearance   
  Retail vacancy rates are up in the district, especially for strip malls.

March 2008

Earmarks

• Both sides of the pork trough
  Earmarks are easy to want, easier to criticize. Though inefficient at a number of levels, the political economy of pork barrel spending suggests some benefits are also ignored.
• This little piggy came home
  Earmarks are plentiful in the Ninth District and vary widely.
• Dual-edged earmarks
  Earmarks can meet local needs; they can also leave locals hanging.

Ninth District Features

• Is there an animal doctor in the house?
  The field of veterinary medicine is evolving, and a labor battle is brewing.
• On a wing and a subsidy
  Is the Essential Air Service program still vital after 30 years?
• Room at the silo, after all
  Defying expectations, a storage crunch failed to materialize at district elevators last fall.

January 2008

Wal-Mart Effect

• The Wal-Mart effect: Poison or antidote for local communities?
  The debate over Wal-Mart is a heated one. How can you tell whether the world’s largest retailer is good or bad for your community?
• Sidebar: Wal-Mart in the Ninth District: Who, when and how
• The research literature on Wal-Mart: Some frowns,
  some smiley faces
  Hoping for some easy answers to the Wal-Mart effect?
  Better shop elsewhere.
• Data: Description of Data Used in fedgazette Wal-Mart Analysis
  County Level Wal-Mart Data [xls]

Ninth District Features

• A growing cornucopia of organics
  Organic farming in the district continues to sprout in fields and on dinner plates.
• Send more nurses, stat!
  Despite rising wages, nurses are likely to remain scarce in many parts of the district.
• Not making the grade
  Teacher pay in the western part of the district isn't competitive with other states.

November 2007

Focus: Health Care Pricing

• Through the maze, darkly
  Rising medical costs are shining the spotlight on the complexity of health care pricing. Transparency to the rescue?
  Sidebar: Coming to a Web site near you
• The semantics of health care prices
  Transparency is obscured by the complexity of today’s health care system.
• Is there a consumer in the house?
  If you haven’t heard of consumer-driven health care, hang around, because it will likely be making a visit to a health plan near you.

Ninth District Features

• Grid and bear it
  We all pay dearly when congestion chokes the electrical system. A resurgence of transmission investment in the district promises relief—if new lines actually get built.
• Come and get it
  Federal spending in district states has increased significantly since the early 1990s.
• Rolling the ICE dice
  Immigrant workers play a key role in district labor markets,
  and employers and workers alike walk a legal tightrope.

September 2007

Focus: Franchising

• Franchising like rabbits
  We see them, we patronize them, we don't know much about them: Franchises in the Ninth District.
• Franchisors R Us
  Every state is home base to some franchisors, but Minnesota leads the district pack.
• Ninth District Franchise Growth by State

Ninth District Features

• Credit risk data may help target foreclosure mitigation
  What local areas are being especially hard hit by foreclosure?
• Rental rebound
  Apartment vacancy rates are falling around the district, but slower home sales are only part of the story.
• Where's the buzz?
  Beekeepers stung by fewer honeybees; sticky issue for ag sector

July 2007

Focus: Small Business

• The state of small business: Small is tough, but still beautiful
  Though competitive pressures are seemingly everywhere, small businesses continue to anchor local and state economies.
  Sidebars:
  Inc(reasing)
  Business registrations have exploded in district states.
  It's a jungle out there
  A word about do-it-yourselfers
  What is small business?
  Don't know what we don't know
• Small Business Trends-Ninth District States

Ninth District Features

• Green at any price?
  Renewable-energy mandates raise lots of questions for electric utilities and consumers.
  Sidebar: Watt if: Estimating the rate impact of RPSs
• Builders see green
  Ninth District joins a growing trend in green construction.

May 2007

Focus: Universal Service

• Dialing for dollars
  Rural telephone companies in the district collect millions of dollars annually in universal service subsidies. Has the time come to let them fend for themselves?
• Fixing universal service
  Proposed measures would curb the costs of subsidizing rural phone service.
• Broadband: Not quite universal
  Given the state of rural broadband, extending universal service to high-speed Internet access may be premature.

Ninth District Features

• Pipelines to feed the beast
  U.S. appetite for oil and Canada’s supply spur pipeline projects.
• Bank exposure to ethanol
  Is ethanol expansion putting investing banks at risk?
• O Canada
  For exporters to the district's northern neighbor, a weakening U.S. dollar is good for business.
• Foreign Trade Zones
  A new hammer in the economic development toolbox, but mostly a pillow in the district.

March 2007

Focus: Rural Sprawl

• Lost best place
  As city dwellers seek bucolic bliss, sprawl is spreading to the countryside. Problem, or opportunity?
• Do fence me in?
  Rural sprawl happens when people try to grab their slice of paradise in the country. Critics view it as devastating; newcomers are just looking for a better life.
• Coping strategies
  Sprawl is often condemned, but most critiques hold no economic water. Still, a few are valid, and policy fixes may exist.
• Wide open spaces
  Incentive-based tools to protect rural land from sprawl are increasingly popular, but some doubt their effectiveness.

Ninth District Features

• Intensive care for rural hospitals
  Critical access program brings life, hope back to some rural hospitals. But if access is the goal, it may be overmedicating.
• A minimum wager
  Will a rising wage floor lift all workers, or put too many in the unemployment line?
• One more thing in life that's certain: Fees
  Government fees are on the rise at both the state and local levels.

January 2007

Focus: Health Care Capital Spending

• Rx for aging health care facilities
  Health care capital investment has surged across most of the district, but the wish list isn't necessarily getting any shorter.
• You are what you reimburse
  What drives capital spending in health care? Follow the money.
• The next IT in health care
  Sophisticated information technology is a must-have for health care organizations.

Ninth District Features

• Not out of the woods yet
  The consequences of commercial timberland sales may not be as dire as some fear.
• When Chicken Little is wrong
  Despite fears, the sky didn't fall on Michigan's Upper Peninsula when Sawyer Air Force Base closed.
• Old MacDonald's evolving farm
  Alternative livestock markets still small and volatile, but appear to be growing.
• News flash: Small-market papers prosper
  In small cities and towns in the district, the demise of newspapers has been greatly exaggerated.

November 2006

Special Focus: Poverty

• The myriad, changing faces of poverty
  Is poverty getting better or worse? Yes.
• Poverty by what standard
  Sidebar: Poverty by another definition
• Poverty and the Ninth District Economy
  A bird’s-eye county view of poverty
  The connection between poverty and the economy
• Poverty snapshots in the Ninth District
  Race: Poverty in black and white
  Gender and family structure: The gender-family poverty gap
  Employment: Get a job and love it
  Immigrants vs. Native born: Huddling more massively
  Education achievement: Book smart on poverty
  Age structure: One for the ages

September 2006

Focus: Grand Forks Flood Recovery

• High and dry
  Almost a decade after the Flood of 1997, the Grand Forks metro area has made quite a comeback.
• To save a city
  How far should government power extend into private markets in the wake of a disaster?
  Sidebars: Who needs downtowns, anyway?
  Were historic business districts worth saving? City leaders thought so.
  Selected state and federal flood-recovery expenditures, Greater Grand Forks

Ninth District Features

• Amber waves of biodiesel
  Though growing, renewable fuel isn’t likely to help save rural economies or kick an oil habit.
• Roll the credits … and the tax incentives
  Cities, states and even countries spar for film production business, but at what cost?

July 2006

Focus: Nonprofits

• The economy’s middle child
  Though a major part of the economy, the nonprofit sector is poorly understood and maybe a tad underappreciated.
• Tracking the elusive nonprofit economy
  Data are hard to find, harder to compare.
• The leader of the nonprofit pack
  Foundations grow in number and size; effect is multifold.
• Charity case: Trends in giving
  Measures of giving are not always straightforward.

Ninth District Features

• South Dakota “steaks” its reputation on beef branding program
  Value-added marketing promotes quality of state’s agricultural output.
• End of the (credit) line?
  Rising interest rates haven’t increased loan delinquencies—yet.
• Canadian tourism on the rise, eh?
  Thanks to better exchange rates, Canadians are starting to reverse a long, steady decline in visits to the district.

May 2006

Focus: Public Pensions

• Pension deficit disorder
  Local and state public pensions are trying to get traction on a slippery funding slope.
  Sidebars:An actuarial balancing act
  Debates over public pensions can quickly plunge into the pool of minutiae and tediousness.
  In case of pension emergency
  Legislatures nationwide will no doubt be debating what to do about public pensions with large unfunded liabilities.
  Covet thy neighbor’s … pension? Public vs. private [Web only]
Gasping over GASB
Post-retirement health benefits could bring a shock to governments, retirees.

Ninth District Features

• Taking the shears to fuel costs
  District businesses are turning to hedging as a way to cope with higher, more volatile energy prices.
• Entrance exam
  The number of international college students has dipped since 9/11, and universities face more than visa challenges in turning that around.
• Driving for a license
  Occupational licensing continues to grow, but benefits to consumers are not obvious.

March 2006

Focus: Tribal Economic Development

• The wealth (and poverty) of Indian nations
  Small businesses and tribal colleges offer fresh hope in Indian Country. They also face great hurdles.
  Sidebar: “What is Indian Country?”
• Tribal trends
  While economic conditions have improved for American Indians living on reservations, poverty remains prevalent, and tribes face deep challenges in their efforts to develop.
• Indianpreneurs
  Small business development holds great promise for American Indian economic progress, but big obstacles remain.
  Sidebars: A model law, Capital idea [Web only]
• Growth by degrees
  The good news: tribal colleges help develop Indian economies
  and cultures. The bad news: they face a chronic funding crisis.

Interview

• Thomas J. Holmes on Wal-Mart's location strategy
  Holmes describes Wal-Mart's location strategy and possible implications for the Ninth District.

Ninth District Features

• Condemned prosperity
  The use of eminent domain for private development may benefit district communities, but it blights the overall economy.
• Putting a price, and a cap, on pain and suffering
  How the current medical malpractice crisis affects the Ninth District.

January 2006

Focus: Rural Pharmacies

• The other pharm crisis
  The pharmacy industry faces a multitude of challenges, and rural areas confront the possibility of losing pharmacy services.
  Sidebar: Filling a prescription for more pharmacies
• Cash, check or third party?
  Prescription benefit plans are squeezing retail pharmacies.
• Special delivery?
  Innovations are changing how, where and when people receive pharmacy services. Not everyone is thrilled. [Web only]

Ninth District Features

• Molding a new industry
  Recent oil pressures have threatened the recovery of the
  district's plastics industry, but firms can cope by adapting.
• Color them plain but successful
  Growing Hutterite colonies find successful—and sizable—niches
  in district economy.

November 2005

Focus: Job Shocks

• Job shocks: Resuscitation or suffocation?
  How local economies react after suffering a major decline in employment.
  
• County employment: Shocks and rebounds
  Lots of counties experience major job loss, but why they do and how well they recover is more of a mystery.
  Sidebars:
  Helicopter churn:The macro view on job loss and growth
  Methodology: A county slice in time
• A missing bogeyman
  County employment shocks and recoveries show a wide diversity of sources.
  Sidebars:
  Shocked, only not: False positive cases of employment decline
  Company mass layoffs: The “other” job shock
• Job shocks: When lightning threatens again [Web only]

Ninth District Features

• Fickle like the wind
  Wind farming is booming again in the district, but the industry remains dependent on federal subsidy.
• Exploring new tourism territory
  Lewis & Clark bicentennial was expected to bring new tourism, but results have been mixed.
  

September 2005

Focus: Water Infrastructure

• Pipe dreams
  The district is awash in expensive projects to bring water to sparsely populated areas. Are they worth it?
  Sidebar: The path not taken
  Big pipelines aren’t the only solution to rural water problems
• Paying the piper
  Somebody has to pony up billions of dollars to upgrade drinking water and sewer systems throughout the district
  Sidebar: Tapping into savings
  No-build approaches and alternative technologies can reduce the cost of water upgrades in small towns

Ninth District Features

• Livestock shocks
  Mad cow, trade policy and strong prices
  Sidebar: This little piggy restricted market access
• Lighting up Big Sky, dereg style
  Electricity deregulation comes to Montana—so far, to the cheers of some and the chagrin of many
• Black gold rush
  High oil prices have brought happy days to the oil-producing parts of the district

July 2005

Focus: Manufactured Housing

• Home, sweet (manufactured?) home
  The familiar industry you know nothing about battles the legacy of its mobile roots.
• Dealer, heal thyself
  Consumer-unfriendly tactics plague sales.
• Hello, have we met?
  Manufactured housing suffers an image problem.
• M & M & Ms
  Mobile, manufactured, modular—is there any real difference?
• Growing up mobile
  It’s not just a trailer park anymore.
• Ginnie Mae I buy a manufactured home?
  Secondary financial markets could boost the industry.

Ninth District Feature

• Angels we have heard on high
  Getting investor networks to look closer to home.

Interview

• Timothy J. Kehoe on international trade.

May 2005

Focus: Housing

• A rising housing tide
  Despite economic ups and downs, strong housing markets have managed to lift a lot of boats
• Close-knit neighborhoods
  Home-buying trends carve new niches in home types.
• Bureaucratic rent trends
  Data suggest soft rental markets in the district.
• Housing affordability: Catch me if you can
  Has housing affordability improved? Yes and no.

Ninth District Features

• Rust never sleeps
  Soybean fungus threatens yields and fields.
• The beet generation
  Trade pacts may not be so sweet for district sugar beet farmers.
• Foreign Inc.
  Foreign investment goes both ways.

March 2005

Focus: Garbage

• Getting wasted
  There are millions of tons of garbage in the Ninth District.
  This is their story.
• Profiles in garbage
• Not in my back 40
  Landfills—the trash sites formerly known as dumps—are growing. You got a problem with that?
• Recycling—righteous or rubbish?
  Critics say recycling is garbage. Supporters say it will save the world. The truth lies somewhere in between.
• A burning issue [Web only]
  Garbage burners play a significant role in a few Ninth District states. For years, local governments have stoked the fire, but the flame appears to be dying.
• What goes around
  Burning rubber raises a stink in district communities.

Ninth District Features

• Missing the bus
  Many worry over the loss of intercity bus and train service. But local, on-demand transit service is more critical for rural mobility.
• An open house for real estate agents
  In the last few years the real estate market, both nationwide and in the Ninth District, has been on fire. And, like moths swarming to that fire, the market for real estate agents has also swelled.
• Keep on truckin' (please)
  With the economy picking up traction, truck drivers are in short supply.

January 2005

Focus: Labor Shortage

• Help wanted, again
  As the economy improves, labor shortages are likely to be on the minds of employers more often.
• Job description: Track hiring demand
  Indicators suggest rising labor demand, but blind spots remain.
• Ready, set dance
  Employers adjust to supply/demand of labor markets.
• The hard hat blues
  Why do good jobs go begging in certain sectors?

Ninth District Features

• Unconventional wisdom
  District convention centers weathered the recession,
  but the outlook is cloudy.
• Community banks full of change
  Small-town banks thrive in new banking environment,
  but face myriad competitors.

November 2004

Focus: Banking

• In banking, less can equal more
  Though consolidation continues, banking services have nonetheless expanded considerably throughout the Ninth District.
• Banking trends in a county near you
  Geographic differences are not all that great between urban, fringe and rural counties.
• Loosening the strings of regulation
  Federal and state deregulation has opened new markets for district banks
• Too much of a good thing?
  Is the Ninth District overbanked?

Ninth District Features

• The housing price is right
  District housing prices are rising overall, but metros depict different pictures.
• Globalization: not just for breakfast anymore
  Minnesota manufacturers join the global business race.
• Broadband.gov
  A growing number of small cities offer high-speed Internet access, but does local government belong in the telecom business?
• Got MILC?
  New federal dairy policy benefits district, but are there unintended consequences?

September 2004

Focus: Immigration

• A rainbow coalition
  Immigration is changing the face of the Ninth District, though still slowly in many parts.
• Faces of change
  In a flashback to the early 20th century, immigrants from all over the world are settling in the district, and not just in its inner cities.
• Bring us your tired, huddled masses (we’ve got job openings)
  Employers strapped for labor have turned to immigrants to fill jobs spurned by many natives.
• A good investment or money down the drain?
  Immigrants have become a lightning rod for the resentment of native-born taxpayers who disapprove of extra spending on social services.

Ninth District Features

• The new coal rush
  Rising energy needs and relaxed regulations fuel a resurgence.
• A fast, variable-speed mortgage roller coaster
  A strong district mortgage market, but marked differences among metro areas.

July 2004

Focus: Two-Year Colleges

• Moving beyond the 13th grade
  Two-year colleges still battle an inferiority complex, despite strong enrollment growth and relevance in today’s economy.
• Change is good, if you know how
  How do community and technical colleges meet the evolving needs of students and employers?
• Behind the classroom doors
  Major differences in two-year college systems exist among district states.
• Opinions and poster boys
  Two-year colleges are enjoying renewed appeal and attention.
• Graduation exam: Spell “matriculation”
  Community college students share their thoughts, and district states manage transfers to four-year schools in different ways.

Ninth District Feature

• Banking on the fringe
  Payday and title loans continue their popularity despite
  efforts to regulate the industry.

May 2004

Focus: Women Entrepreneurship

• I am Woman. Hear my business roar
  Women entrepreneurs are gaining ground and business experience. What does it mean for the district economy?
• Business is open on Venus
  Much is made about gender differences, but do those differences transfer to business owners?
• Running the gauntlet
  Women today have unprecedented opportunities to start businesses, but a wide assortment of hurdles remains.

Ninth District Features

• Is gray the new gold?
  The elderly are often portrayed as an economic burden, but many see seniors as a target market.
• Dialing up call centers
  A slumping industry shows signs of life.
• Taking the plunge
  Water parks are springing up throughout the district, but how much buoyancy does this tourism niche have?
  

March 2004

Focus: Aging

• Graying of the Ninth
  Ninth District counties are older than most, and our aging population presents significant economic challenges—and opportunities.
• Four funerals and a wedding
  We’re growing older and it won’t be cheap.
• Welcome to retirement. Now back to work
  Will the district’s aging population affect its labor supply and will our economy suffer?
• Why 65?
  Origins of the official retirement age and current trends and policies in other countries.

Ninth District Features

• Crop insurance turning dry fields into cash crop
  Federal programs help farmers buy better protection but at a heavy public cost.
• “People have to eat”
  District food processing is doing surprisingly well but faces slow shifts in the industry.

January 2004

Focus: Government Spending

• An acquired taste for public goodies
  State and local government spending has steadily increased across the district, and states have unique spending priorities.
• Growth in state and local government spending
  Data on state per capita growth.
• Put it on my ... er, his tab
  Opinion polls indicate public’s dilemma over tax and spend.
• After the fiscal gold rush
  Budget shortfalls have created fiscal juggling acts.
• Thanks for nothin', bro
  State budget problems get passed down the ladder.

Ninth District Feature

• From dead spot to data hot spot
  Wireless broadband has promising opportunities
  in rural parts of the district.

November 2003

Focus: Manufacturing

• Love, pickup trucks and lost manufacturing jobs
  The manufacturing recession has left many singing the employment blues.
• Something, anything for the pain
  Almost nobody’s been spared in the manufacturing recession.
• Powering the assembly line [Web only]
  Long-term drivers may need some repair.
• Looking ahead, and over your shoulder
  The search for international bogeymen overlooks U.S. competitiveness.
• Fido to the rescue
  Despite the gloom, there are success stories in manufacturing.

Ninth District Features

• The taxing issue of e-commerce
  District states are in the middle of the debate on Internet sales taxes.
• Wrong side of the tracks?
  Railroads have made impressive strides, but challenges lie ahead for railroad firms and the communities they serve.

September 2003

Focus: Biotech

• Big bang biotech?
  Many say a “bio” revolution is under way, but complex logistics and other factors make it hard to predict the who-where-when of its economic impact in the district.
• The next biotech frontier: weights and measures
  How to measure the biotech industry remains a mystery.
• Come hither, biotech
  States, regions and universities are scrambling to be part of the bio-revolution. What do they get for their efforts?
• Biotech by any other measure
  Without a standard way to measure biotech, some other indicators are worth a look.
  

Ninth District Features

• Courting clusters
  A look at the latest economic development rage: luring groups of similar and interrelated businesses.
• Cash me out
  Record numbers seek debt relief through bankruptcy.

July 2003

Focus: Water Economics

• Water Wars
  Markets hold promise for resolving disputes over water use. But the intricate economics—and persistent politics—of water suggest that governments will remain part of the picture.

Ninth District Features

• I dream of protective genies
  The softwood lumber and steel industries begged for protection from imports. Both got their wish, but has it helped?
• On a trade mission
  For district, states, is it a pot-o-gold or a rainbow of hype at the end of a foreign trade mission?
• Gentlemen, start your ethanol engines
  Thanks to government-induced demand, ethanol production is on the fast track in the district.

May 2003

Focus: Exports

Analysis of issues confronting Ninth District exporters.

• All abroad
  Exports hold great promise, but an obstacle course
  challenges both newcomer and veteran firms
• An unwanted rest for hustling exporters
• Please pass the salt exports
  U.S. export statistics have numerous shortcomings, but the biggest surprise might be that no one else has better
• Uncle Sam wants you to export
  

Ninth District Features

• Embarking on smoother skies
  District airports bounce back from 2001 lows with the help of regional jet service
• The year of the minivan
  After 9/11, tourism took a turn toward safe, family options—a perfect fit for the district
  

March 2003

Focus: Gambling

An in-depth look at Ninth District gambling, from state lotteries to Indian casinos to Internet gambling.

• Gambling: A sure thing?
• Profile of a gambling district
  
• Not a great bet
  
• Taking food from mouths
  
• Milking the new buffalo
  
• Few big winners
  
• Shopping online for lucky 7s

Ninth District Feature

• Temporary canary
  Temp employment in the Ninth District

Opinion

• Early childhood development = economic development
• Changing the way lawmakers make spending decisions

January 2003

Focus: Brain Drain

• Plugging the brain drain
  States fret over losing their young, educated workers,
  And many are scrambling for ways to stop the outward flow.
• Patterns of the young and restless
  Seemingly obvious migration patterns belie the many reasons why and where people move.
• Designing a brain drain plug
  States create incentives to keep their best and brightest.
  But do they work?

Ninth District Features

• The next gold rush, or gold bust?
  Montana debates benefits, costs of coalbed methane.
• The shipping news & forecast
  District ports face many competitive challenges, but whether they sink or swim over the long term will likely depend on infrastructure improvements.
  

November 2002

Focus: Toxic Legacy

• What lies beneath
  The bills come due for hardrock mining's toxic past.
• The prices—right
  The toughest problem in metal mining's future will be making
  prices reflect all the costs.
• Pay dirt or fool's gold
  Do small towns strike it rich with metal mining or do they
  simply get the shaft?
• How much for a grizzly?
  Estimating environmental values is difficult but essential.
  

Ninth District Features

• More than just a pretty place?
  Rural census follow-up: Natural amenities offer some rural
  counties a leg up in attracting people, but economic prosperity
  does not necessarily follow.
• Drought is hell
  Some parts of the district are so dry that despondent farmers
  can hardly grow grapes of wrath.

September 2002

Focus: Rural Census

• Rural Census: Half full or hall empty?
  At first glance, the latest census paints a gloomy picture for much of the rural Ninth District. A closer look shows not all rural counties are doing poorly and suggests some reasons why.
  
• Boomers, babies and bye-bye Bobby
  Shifting age composition the result of more than just young folks leaving.
• Stand by your county, man
  Despite decline, counties still searching, hoping for answers
• A labor vacuum with no population suction
  Declining rural populations could have labor consequences
  for metro regions
• Data don't tell the whole story
  The numbers might look good, but they can mask poor conditions in some counties

Ninth District Features

• Checking out?
  Hotels in smaller communities have weathered the downturn better than big-city siblings
• From the ground up?
  Despite growing demand and solid prices, organic farming
  still faces high hurdles
  

July 2002

Focus: Labor Shortage

• Strength in hidden numbers
  Underemployment and skill mismatches offer glimpse behind area labor shortages.
• New economy value meal, please
  The hype is all high-skills and high-pay, but the meat is maybe something less.
• Shall we dance?
  As jobs grow but the labor pool doesn't, job matching becomes essential to make sure everybody gets the right partner.

Ninth District Features

• After disaster: Salvage or savage logging?
  Opposing views on the value of timber harvests after natural disasters.
• Digging in or digging out?
  Despite new exploration, mining's future is in a deep hole.
• Hunting for a solution
  Resident and nonresident hunters duel over the benefits of state game resources.
• Cures for health care ills
  This is a follow-up article to the May fedgazette series on spiraling health care costs and discusses several possible solutions.

May 2002

Focus: Health Care Costs

• The cost of living
  Health care spending is higher than ever and still climbing. Why? And what can be done about it?
• Life is good
  Considering benefits—and accurately measuring costs—is critical when evaluating health care spending.
• Beyond supply and demand
  The reasons for increased health care costs go beyond simple supply and demand, and solutions are tougher than they seem.

Ninth District Features

• Rural health care: Heal thyself?
• Mr. Recession, meet Mr. Labor Shortage
  Not long ago, labor shortages were the big concern on Main Street. Has the recession changed that?
• District tourism focuses on new attractions
  From cowboys to history buffs, Ninth District states are putting their best packages forward to lure adventure seekers.

March 2002

Focus: Farm Income

• Farm safety at any speed
  A reinforced safety net is a priority for the net farm bill, but a customized fit has proved difficult to fashion and has sprouted unintended consequences
• A fair price for whom?
  Fair-price programs might be popular with farmers and lawmakers, but they carry with them a wheelbarrow full of both obvious and subtle ill effects.
• Green is good
  Doubling as income support, many believe paying farmers for better environmental outcomes is an idea worth fertilizing.
  

Ninth District Features

• Full throttle for high-speed rail?
  High-speed rail likely hinges on federal funding, but does getting such funding automatically make it a good idea?
• With a little help from our friends
  Though declining in number, co-ops find new ways to help farmers and rural communities.
• Not milk?
  Midwest dairy is dying, says the conventional wisdom. Not gonna happen, say district farmers.

January 2002

Focus: Prisons

• Wanted criminals
  For two decades, prisons have been a growth strategy for small towns. Does the strategy work? And will it in the future?
• Big house on the prairie
  Despite protests by some, small town leaders have sought out prisons as economic saviors. Both the critics' deepest fears and the boosters' highest hopes are likely to go unfulfilled.
• Private vs. public: the prison debate
  Can private prisons save tax dollars? The evidence is inconclusive.
• Busted?
  The boom in prison growth is slowing as crime rates decline, budgets tighten and policymakers consider alternatives.

Ninth District Features

• Theme song for softwood lumber: Oh, Canada
  Are Canadian imports killing the U.S. softwood industry?
• Military build-up: district defense contractors watching, waiting
  A look at Ninth District defense contractors in light of recent military activity

November 2001

Focus: Broadband

• Economic aftershocks
  Ninth District businesses report on the impact of Sept. 11, 2001.
• Digital haves and have-nots
  Rural areas are assumed to be on the losing side of the digital divide, but that might not be the case.
• The need for speed
  Many argue broadband is a “must have” for people, businesses and communities. Who gets it, who doesn't and why?
• Error message: It's the data, stupid
  The FCC has trouble keeping up with the proliferation of telecom providers.
• Lotsa cooks in the broadband kitchen
  Gaggle of federal and state programs, grants and loans help rural broadband deployment.
• No strings attached: Bird Island telecom taking flight
  One Minnesota community's efforts to link to the world.

Opinion

• The University of Minnesota as a public good
  Remarks by Arthur J. Rolnick and Rob Grunewald based on a paper presented at the University of Minnesota conference, “The University's Contribution to Minnesota's Economic, Social and Cultural Vitality.
  

Ninth District Features

• After the flood
  Flood insurance and wetlands restoration are two policies that hold both promise and problems for flood control. Will they be able to handle the next disaster?
• Fighting the last war
  Current policy neglects to anticipate the impact of floodplain development on future flood potential.
• Back to nature
  Restoring wetlands may help to control floods, but their other values complicate the picture.
• Fishing for diversity: aquaculture in the Ninth District
• Incubating economic development
  Fast becoming a popular tool for local economic development, incubators' long-term impact less obvious.

September 2001

Focus: Floods

• Subsidizing sorrow
  Flood disasters of the past decade were caused, in part, by poor policy. Have we learned our lessons or are we making floods still worse?
• The failure of flood control
  Billions of taxpayer dollars have been spent on flood management and disaster relief, but flood disasters continue and costs keep climbing.
• Dam it all
  Dams and levees are the usual answer to flooding, but they're not always the right answer. So why do we keep building them?
• Out of harm's way
  The new wave in flood control is getting rid of the problem: Us.

Ninth District Features

• Emus and ostriches and elk, oh my
  Unusual livestock give district farmers new markets and profits.
• Public venture, public gain?
  A follow-on to the July fedgazette cover story that looks at governments' role in promoting entrepreneurship and venture capital.
• The granddaddy of VC
  A review of the federal government's Small Business Investment Co.

July 2001

Focus: Venture Capital and Entrepreneurs

• Nurturing the light bulb economy
  The new-found profile of entrepreneurs and venture capital has states eager to get more of both.
• Fairy tales and venture capital
  The rise of venture capital has given district states “green” envy, fretting that its absence will affect regional and state economies.
• The entrepreneurial stool
  Capital is important to entrepreneurs, but other legs are important and often ignored.

Ninth District Features

• Knee deep in feedlot feuds
  As the livestock industry consolidates and animal farms get bigger, their neighbors worry about the consequences.
• Digging for dollars
  Ninth District dinosaurs still have an (economic) impact.
• Considering the alternatives
  Rapidly rising energy costs and shrinking supplies are sparking creativity and generating new power sources.

May 2001

Focus: Labor Unions

• State of the Union
  Labor unions have a long and proud heritage in Ninth District states. This issue's cover stories look at that legacy and the changes that have occurred over time.
• Labor Pains
  Union strength has reached a low point in the Ninth District, with few bright spots. What brought unions to their knees? And will they rise again?
• Do Unions Work?
  What are the economic pros and cons of labor unions?
• E Pluribus Union: Labor in the Public Sector
  While private sector labor unions seem to be losing clout, public sector unions are strong and stable.

Ninth District Features

• Phone Home
  Call centers are finding a lot to like in the district, which might have long-term impact on small cities.
• Lewis and Clark: The adventure begins, again
  Plans are under way to commemorate the bicentennial anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase exploration by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.

March 2001

Focus: Stadiums and Convention Centers

• Edifice Complex
  Ninth District cities are investing millions in stadiums, multiuse arenas and convention centers in hopes of better economic development and entertainment options.
• Pitching for the minor leagues
  With a bevy of quasi-professional and college teams and a perceived dearth of entertainment options, smaller cities are experiencing “the stadium issue” firsthand.
• Shall we gather?
  Many smaller cities are eager to invest in convention centers on behalf of local economic development. Whether they should “depends on how you do the accounting.”
• Stadiums and convention centers as community loss leaders
• Increased use of uninsured deposits

Ninth District Features

• Pulp Friction
  Consolidation in the paper industry is a global phenomenon with huge Ninth District impact. The question is: Will it work?
• Micropower: The next big thing?
  New electricity technologies promise power to the people, but the revolution may be delayed.

January 2001

Focus: Electricity Deregulation

• Power struggle
  Deregulation, once seen as inevitable in the electric industry, is now on the backburner in most Ninth District states.
• Pulling the plug on electricity deregulation?
• Under the Influence
  All engines are go for the ethanol industry, but whether that continues hinges on fickle consumers and government policy.
• Blowin' in the wind
  Underneath the chaos of electricity deregulation, part of the answer to future energy needs might be wind generation.

Ninth District Features

• Regional airports: Fear of not flying
• “Musseling” in on the Ninth District economy

2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995
1994 | 1993 | 1992 | 1991 | 1990 | 1989

October 2000

Focus: Fringe Banking

• Buyer beware
  Despite high costs and warnings from consumer groups, the market for payday loans and other convenience-based financial services continues to grow. What gives?
• A helping hand, or new age loan sharking?
• Will that be cash, check or debtor's hell?
• Financial modernization, the FHLB and agricultural banks

Ninth District Features

• Cruise industry recharts once-popular destinations
• Expanding tourism just the ticket in Ninth District
• Regional airports: Fasten your seatbelt

July 2000

Focus: Local Economic Development, Part II

• Fully loaded
  Despite how they might prefer to operate, development professionals offer cache of incentives to remain competitive.
• Backed by popular demand
  With subsidized interest rates, public loan programs abound but don't always deliver.
• A toolbox of favors
  A kitty of different business incentives gives local communities the wherewithal to close deals.
• Interest rate risk
  What is it, why banks would want it, and how to evaluate it.

April 2000

Focus: Local Economic Development, Part I

• Local economic development: At your service
• The crowded field of local economic development
• Local economic development: A recipe for stone soup
• Is financial modernization anything new?

January 2000

Focus: Agribusiness Concentration

• The pig in the python
• Concentrating on food concentration
• A borderless perspective
• The cousin of consolidation: contracting
• Noninterest income in the Ninth District: The roles of community and credit card banks

October 1999

Focus: Farm Crisis

• Farm Crisis: Here we go again?
• Saving the family farm, but from what?
• Not your father's farm recession
• Whistling Dixie?
  Despite tough times for many, some farmers finding good times
• Noninterest income: A potential for profits, risk reduction and some exaggerated claims

July 1999

Focus: Banking

• Small-town community banks not bugged by Y2K
• Nimble small-town banks swatting Y2K
• Community bank Web sites: The current picture
• Why all concerns about subprime lending are not created equal
• Unemployment today in Europe and Japan: Lessons from the U.S. Great Depression

April 1999

Focus: Telecommunications

• Linking rural America
• Rural businesses are spurring much of the growth in telecommunications
• E-commerce: For some businesses, the only way to go
• Y2K and public confidence in the banking system

January 1999

Focus: Hog Markets

• District hog prices hit historic lows
• Is agriculture in crisis?
• Despite some concerns, expansion likely to continue
• Business leaders optimistic, but less so than a year ago

November 1998

Focus: Crop Disease

• Scab: The Ninth District's agricultural plague of the '90s.
• Can the U.S. economy weather world storms?
• Despite weakening conditions in the agricultural sector, bank data generally indicate good performance.

July 1998

Focus: Banking

• Declining deposits ... Is it all bad news?
• Location influences community banks' challenges.
• Is the loan-to-deposit ratio still relevant?

April 1998

Focus: Poultry

• Poultry: A quiet success story
• Deposit insurance, too-big-to-fail and small banks
• Record bank profitability: how, who and what does it mean?

January 1998

Focus: Metro Outlook

• Metro Outlook '98
• Deposit insurance proposal elicits response
• A primer on bank consolidation in the Ninth District

October 1997

Focus: Railroads

• Railroads improving as industry reshapes itself once again
• Credit card banking in the Ninth District

July 1997

Focus: Banking

• Think big; act small
  'Branch' and 'diversity' become buzzwords as community banking adapts to changing industry
• Banking poll
• Flood update
• District review and forecast

April 1997

• Tourism may be a young industry, but its impact is anything but small
• How the Ninth District fares in tourism
• Measuring tourism's impact still an inexact science
• Staffing tourism business not an easy task
• Tourism—a taxing issue

January 1997

Focus: '97 Outlook

• Growth will continue, but at slower pace in 1997
• Arctic winter blasts district agriculture
• District business leaders optimistic about 1997
• District economy expected to slow through 1997

October 1996

Focus: Urban Crawl

• Growth brings concerns
  Ninth District cities enjoy expansion, but some face new issues as growth reaches to the prairies
• Sioux Falls is growing like a tree, but does it need pruning?
• Fargo's one-directional growth
• In St. Cloud, if you want city services, you join the city and many want in
• For Billings, West-End growth is beginning to raise questions
• Is trend destiny?
  Ninth District rural population grows, but consolidation continues
• Stronger Japanese economy boosts District manufactured exports

July 1996

Focus: Banking

• Banks turn up the heat against credit unions
• What does the future hold for community banks?
• Bank liquidity tightening—but still sufficient, bankers say

April 1996

Using Price to Manage Demand

• And now for something completely different: Market prices
  It ain't broke yet, so let's fix it now
  Primer on congestion pricing

  Small hog farms losing ground

  Corn and hogs: Unique complements over time

  Pork 101: The economics of hogs

January 1996

Focus: Economic Development

• The quiet side of economic development
• Congress should end the economic war for sports and other businesses
• Sprawl steals more than urban residents, it undermines business and regional health

October 1995

Focus: State Colleges and Universities

• State universities feel the fiscal pinch, but also see new opportunities
• Canadian trade provides backbone for Ninth District exports

July 1995

Focus: Community Development

• Putting the “C” in CRA
• Doing the Undoable Deal
• Loan Program Brings Funds to Southwestern Wisconsin
• Bank Performance Remains Strong in 1994

April 1995

Focus: Productivity

• Drive to Improve Cash Flow Yields Productivity Gains
• Productivity Primer How Does Economy Grow
• Expanding the Nation's Productivity Capacity
• The Quality Movement May Spur Productive Growth

January 1995

Focus: Dairy

• District Dairying Faces Dramatic Change
• Interstate Branch Banking: Opt in or Out?
• Geography and Technology in Dairying
• Do Federal Dairy Policies Hurt District
• Amid Signs of Strength Advisory Council Detects “Undercurrent of Uncertainty”

October 1994

Focus: Housing

• Town's Economy Surges; Housing Feels Ripple
• Flux in Military Base Operations Disrupts Housing Markets
• Demographics Shape Housing Market
• Special Housing Needs Call for Special Measures

July 1994

Focus: Banking

• Small Banks vs. Small Branches—Bank Style May Mean More Than Bank Ownership
• Futurebank '94: Technology Expo Lures Community Bankers
• Lacrosse's Prospects in a Changing Economy

April 1994

Focus: Underground Economy

• You Can't Tax What You Can't See (regarding underground economy)
• Mandated Health Care May Increase Incentives For Underground Activity
• District States Surpass Projected Growth

January 1994

Focus: The Value of Sports

• Secondary Sports: Primary Community Objective
• Sports in Lacrosse Deliver Benefits
• Communities Answer Call to "Play Ball"
• District is Hub of Minor League Basketball
• Q&A with Governor Lawrence Lindsey

October 1993

Focus: Exports

• District Exports Key to Economy
• International Agreements Increasingly Important in Trade
• Why Trade?

July 1993

Focus: Community Reinvestment Act

• In Light of Public Disclosure, CRA Gains Luster
• Community Reinvestment is a Way of Life, Not a Law, Says Small Town Bank
• Decline of Sheep Industry Offers Case Study for Other Sectors

April 1993

• When a “Company Town” Loses Its Company, No Magic Formula for Recovery
• From the Ashes of Economic Crises, Jackson, MN, Builds Economic Diversity
• Amid Noise of Its Prominent Closures, Eau Claire, WI, Continues to Grow
• District States Struggle With Budgets
• Stern: District Growth is Steady, But Unspectacular (testimony to Senate)

January 1993

Focus: Value-Added Agriculture

• Adding value to agriculture: new life for an old industry?
• Ag processing is a huge industry within Ninth District
• Tombstone's success means a piece of the [pizza] pie for everyone
• Noodles add value to wheat and community
• The district economy grew on agricultural processing

October 1992

Focus: Banking

• Regulatory burden
  Bankers rally against increasing paperwork, claim compliance is threatening industry
• Banking 2000: More technology and fewer banks
• Regulatory burden: relief in sight?

July 1992

Focus: American Indian Economic Development

• For Ninth District Indian reservations, economic development means independence and self-reliance
• From Red Cliff to Pine Ridge, reservations tie hopes to tourism, small business and manufacturing
• Development Center aids Indian-owned businesses
• Proposal would make tribes investors in off-reservation development
• Businesses blossom on Minneapolis' Franklin Avenue
• Incubator nurtures American Indian-owned and other minority businesses
• Montana's Indian manufacturers join forces
• Gambling's booty extends beyond reservation to neighboring community
• The indu