Image via WikipediaThe University of Alaska Anchorage Institute for Social and Economic Analysis (ISER) is a real powerhouse in terms of regularly generating important new Research with implications for public policy in Alaska. The latest is Research Matters No. 35. How Vulnerable is Alaska’s Economy to Reduced Federal Spending? An excerpt from a recent ISER communication summarizes this research:

The federal government spent $9.25 billion in Alaska in 2006, and about a third of all jobs in Alaska can be traced, in one way or another, to that spending. Big increases in federal spending drove much of the economic growth in Alaska over the past decade. But now federal spending has stopped growing, and many Alaskans are worried that Alaska is vulnerable to cuts in spending, as the federal budget tightens.

A new ISER analysis estimates that Alaska could be vulnerable to spending cuts in the range of $450 million to $1.25 billion—which could cost the economy 7,000 to 20,000 jobs in the future. The author, Scott Goldsmith, emphasizes that it’s impossible to predict possible spending cuts with any precision. The estimated range of potential cuts shows the likely magnitude of reductions, given the federal government’s budget problems. Any cuts would likely be made gradually, over years, and recent strength in the petroleum and mining sectors would help cushion the effects.