Abstract
Some of the worst incidences of poverty in the United States exist in American Indian tribal areas, also known as “Indian Country.” It is the responsibility of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, at the U.S. Department of the Interior, to promote policies to facilitate the economic development and growth of Indian Country. One of the key ingredients for such growth is improved infrastructure, especially in the most impoverished areas. This paper will provide guidance to economists and policy analysts, both within and outside of Indian Affairs, on how to develop infrastructure-based strategies for promoting economic growth in Indian Country. The paper presents a macroeconomic model that interrelates infrastructure development with household income and consumption and examines the multiplier effects that result from expanded infrastructure in tribal areas. The model demonstrates that states may easily benefit from supporting tribal infrastructure development, by various spillover effects.
Highlights
In this paper, the term “tribal area” will refer to the land area occupied and belonging to a federally recognized, tribal nation in the United States
The term “tribal area” will refer to the land area occupied and belonging to a federally recognized, tribal nation in the United States. These land areas are sometimes referred to as land “held in trust,” “restricted fee land,” and “fee simple land.”. In colloquial language such land has historically been called “Indian reservations,” but in the term “reservation” has specific historical and legal meaning that is much more restrictive than the “tribal land” that can be affiliated with federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes
Tribal land lies geographically within a state of the United States
Summary
The term “tribal area” will refer to the land area occupied and belonging to a federally recognized, tribal nation in the United States. These land areas are sometimes referred to as land “held in trust,” “restricted fee land,” and “fee simple land.”. With regard to economic growth, it remains ambiguous as to whether economic growth inside a tribal area and economic growth outside that tribal area (but in the same state), are complements or substitutes Such would depend in large part on non-economic factors, including the internal political policies of the state and perhaps even the idiosyncratic characteristics of the existing state leadership. Economic modeling can shed substantial light on the topic and help inform state policy on the topic of tribal economic growth
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