First Call for Papers, 2010 PNREC

Holiday Inn – Parkside
Missoula, MT
Thursday, May 20th – Friday May 21th, 2010

The 44rd Pacific Northwest Regional Economic Conference will take place May 20 and 21, 2010 at the Holiday Inn-Parkside in Missoula, Montana. Proposals are encouraged for presentations by economists and allied professionals on the many relevant economic issues in the Pacific Northwest.

Our conference theme this year is “Opportunities and Challenges in the Pacific Northwest Hinterlands”. As we come out of what may be the most severe downturn since the 1930’s–one that may bring substantial changes to our regional and national economies– it seems an appropriate time to both take stock and to look ahead. In terms of looking back, we are especially interested in papers focusing on structural changes over the past 20 years in states, provinces, smaller areas, or industries of interest. Papers speculating on how the economic landscape may be changing, and the opportunities inherent in those changes, are also encouraged. How were we affected by the Obama stimulus package? Will the U.S. dollar weaken, and if so, how might that affect us (on either side of the border)? Where is manufacturing headed? Consumers and the retail sector? Banking and financial regulation?

There will be sessions on energy, health care, education/workforce development, tax structures and revenues, labor markets, cross-border issues, real estate, and more. A special group of sessions will focus on how climate change will affect rural areas of the Pacific Northwest will highlight first afternoon.

Proposals for individual or panel presentations, in the form of a short abstract, should be emailed to Jim Sylvester at Jim [dot] Sylvester [at] business [dot] umt [dot] edu.  Deadline for submission is April 1.

We are certainly living in interesting times. Make the most of them and work up a presentation. We look forward to seeing you next spring.

Announcing the 2010 PNREC Conference

Holiday Inn – Parkside
Missoula, MT
Thursday, May 20th – Friday May 21th, 2010

You are invited to join economists, analysts, students and others alongside the Clark Fork River at the Holiday Inn-Parkside in Missoula, Montana.

The conference will kick off Thursday morning with the National Outlook presented by Nigel Gault of Global Insight followed by the Outlook Panel with forecasters from states and provinces. 

The conference theme is “Opportunities and Challenges in the Pacific Northwest Hinterlands”. We expect panel discussions and paper presentations in energy, tourism, demographics, health care, trade and resource use as well as linkages with the urban core of the Pacific Northwest including British Columbia and Alberta. The conference will end early Friday afternoon with the Tiebout Lecture by John Cromartie a geographer with the USDA Economic Research Service.

Registration and hotel information will be available in early January 2010.

As conference host for 2010, The University of Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research is excited to welcome PNREC back to Missoula and we look forward to seeing all of you there.

Patrick Barkey and Jim Sylvester
PNREC 2010 Conference Chairs

Bureau of Business and Economic Research at The University of Montana-Missoula