Montana excels economically vs. peers

This fall, as we head for the polls, lets keep these facts in mind. Montana as a whole is doing quite well and the reason is no fluke. Our free-flowing rivers, national parks and wilderness areas, our wide-open ranchlands and friendly communities n these are the qualities that are rapidly disappearing throughout the West. Montana is doing well because we’ve worked hard to protect them.

Election season is upon us and it’s time once again for politicians to talk about the economy. This time, let’s do it with some facts in hand.

The common lament, faithfully repeated by newspapers and politicians across the state, is that Montana ranks toward the bottom, if not dead last, in many key economic indicators, like per capita income. After reading these accounts, one can’t help but feel depressed and want to blame someone.

But let’s be fair. Montana is for the most part a rural state. Our biggest county, Yellowstone County (Billings) has a population of less than 140,000. Yet every time we hear a lament abut how poorly we’re doing, we rank ourselves with the rest of the country. It means we’re stacking our rural numbers up against states like Colorado with Denver, Arizona with Phoenix and Tucson, and Utah with Salt Lake City.

By RAY RASKER Headwaters Economics http://www.headwaterseconomics.org/

Full Opinion: http://missoulian.com/articles/2008/07/28/opinion/guest/guest25.txt