Abstract![]() Economic Analysis and GIS Track: Teaching with GIS in Higher Education Author GIS has applications in economics beyond those in agricultural, environmental and natural resource analysis. In this session, several other economic applications of GIS will be explored. For example, the national unemployment rate is commonly broadcast as though the US were one single, homogeneous economy. Closer geographic analysis (e.g., by state or county) reveals the wide variation in economic performance during an economic cycle. In some states, for example, the unemployment rate is as much as three times that of other states. Animation will be used to observe the geographic spread and decline in unemployment during the recent recession. Furthermore, it is clear that the geographic dispersion of unemployment is not randomly distributed. Other examples will include: regional economic growth over time, growth or decline of specific urban areas over time, housing price patterns in and around urban areas among other applications. Robert Jones Skidmore College Economics Department 815 North Broadway Saratoga Springs, New York 12866 United States Phone: (518) 580-5094 Fax: (518) 580-5099 E-mail: rjones@skidmore.edu |