MONTANA BUSINESS QUARTERLY

Volume 50, Number 3, Autumn  2012

The Montana Recovery

What's On Track and What's Not

by

Patrick M. Barkey

To say that the behavior of the economy deviated from normal during the 2008-09 recession would be an understatement. The downturn was long and severe, and it left no county in Montana untouched. For the third consecutive year, the nation's economy has stumbled at mid-year.

by

Patrick M. Barkey

The trend in oil well permitting in Montana is up, and the state's energy future looks reasonably bright.

Choices Ahead for Montana

by

Gregg Davis

The dynamics behind the expansion of the Medicaid program and its impact on state budgets is a topic of considerable controversy and differences of opinion. There are many moving parts to Medicaid, and no study to date has incorporated all aspects of the Medicaid expansion.

Connection Between Education and the Economy

by

Daphne Herling, Thale Dillon

The 2011 national high school graduation rate was 75 percent. The remaining 25 percent, about 1.2 million high school seniors across the country, did not attain a high school diploma.

How Accurate are the Estimates?

by

James T. Sylvester

Census Bureau population estimates are used for allocating more than $400 billion to various political entities and to determine eligibility for many social programs. So how accurate are the estimates?