Patrick Barkey Discusses Montana’s Economy on KGVO’s Talk Back

Dr. Patrick Barkey, Director of the University of Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research was the guest on Thursday’s Talk Back radio talk show, to promote the upcoming Economic Outlook Seminars they will be presenting statewide later this month.

Barkey also spoke of the Montana Economic Report, which will be released simultaneously with the first seminar, and provided a preview.

“We’ve put it all together in one document and we’ll be releasing it next week at our outlook program,” said Barkey. “The bottom line is that 2019 was a very good year for Montana’s economy. Despite the weakness in agriculture and the turbulence in coal and despite some of the impacts in trade which have yet to be fully felt, the momentum of the economy kept pushing through.”

Barkey said state government prospered in 2019 with a huge increase in revenue collections.

“It was another year of double-digit growth in income tax receipts from the government’s point of view,” he said. “That’s not only good for state government for their budget issues, but also for the fire fund, and it’s also a good indicator that there’s something in the economy that’s growing, producing income, meaning the economic base is growing.”

Barkey continued his emphasis on the many positive factors in Montana’s economy for 2019.

“Presently, the legislature is in their off year, but they just had their study period and all the legislators were in the state capitol talking about the adequacy of taxes, the fairness of taxes, so there are a lot of things going on at the state level, and at the local level. Here in Missoula there are horses charging ahead at different speeds.”

This year’s Economic Outlook Seminar is entitled ‘Finding Good Workers’, and will be visiting 10 cities throughout the state, starting in Helena on January 28. The seminar will be in Missoula on January 31 from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn. To register, click here.