Advocates of economic growth cite the many benefits to society of an expanding economy. Typically, the people at the top of the economic pyramid are the most vocal advocates of public policies that promote growth. However, growth can also improve the lives of the people at the bottom of the pyramid, the people who are statistically identified as poor.

The Alaska Native Policy Center at First Alaskans Institute (FAI) has embarked on an innovative and ground-breaking study into developing a system of measures that link economic growth to poverty reduction. At first blush, the linkage may seem obvious - a rising economic tide should raise all ships. However, the preliminary results of the project indicate that the dynamics of poverty are more complex than one might imagine.

As a first phase of the study, FAI researchers convened a series of discussions to better understand the definition of poverty in the rural Alaskan context. An often-repeated comment from discussion participants was "we didn't have much money growing up but we never thought of ourselves as poor." This comment points to the complexity of poverty as a social and cultural phenomenon as well as an economic one. Discussion participants talked about poverty by defining the state that is the opposite of poverty - social wellness. The characteristics they selected in defining individual and community wellness included:

• Economic self sufficiency

• Educational success

• A wide range of opportunities in terms of both lifestyle and vocation

• The ability to impact one's world

• Hope

• Spiritual and social well being

• Healthy families

• Strong ties to the community

• Clear cultural identity

Economic resources can certainly contribute to the achievement of these characteristics, but generalized economic growth is not a sufficient condition for achieving wellness, and thus alleviating poverty.

A series of literature searches commissioned by FAI indicate that economists and development theorists have reached roughly the same conclusions as the members of the focus groups: poverty - and its inverse condition of wellness - is the product of a complex set of variables.

Even the strictly economic elements of poverty are not well described by traditional economic measures such as average per capita income. For instance, most rural regional hub communities in Alaska are not defined as "economically distressed" by certain federal measures. This is typically because a small group of high-income individuals, such as doctors or school administrators, skew the average income figures, and thus mask the very significant poverty that any visitor can see.

A second problem is that traditional economic analysis often avoids the critically important issue of the source of income. Income originating from product-based economic activities, such as resource development, art, or tourism, has significant multiplier effects and can provide the basis for a sustainable economic future. Income from government transfer payments has much more limited multiplier effects and can actually depress future economic opportunities by dampening the initiative of members of the labor force.

A critical income source in rural Alaska that traditional economic measures miss is subsistence. Subsistence activities provide millions of dollars of high-quality food products as well as many of the social and cultural benefits that are core to the definition of a healthy community. Subsistence activities are extremely efficient economically because they combine small-scale natural resource development with local value-added processing and distribution to a local market.

Another failure of traditional economic measures is that they typically only address income. True economic wellness also depends on the utilization of income. For instance, a "wealthy" community in which a high percentage of income is spent on gambling, drugs or junk food logically should be identified as poor.

Poverty is clearly a complex economic phenomenon as well as a complex social and cultural phenomenon. In light of this complexity, First Alaskans Institute is facing a monumental task as it explores the link between economic growth and poverty reduction measures. We are fortunate that one of our local institutions is so committed to wresting with one of the most complex and daunting public policy issues faced by Alaska. I salute the First Alaskans Institute for taking on this challenge and anxiously await its findings.