ISU economist: Caucuses not an economic boon for Iowa

In spite of a large field of 2012 Republican presidential candidates, an Iowa State University economist predicts that the economic impact surrounding the run up to Iowa's "first-in-the-nation" precinct caucuses will not be a substantial boon to the state.

In fact, Dave Swenson, an associate scientist in ISU's economics department, expects it will fall well short of the spending from the 2008 caucuses, which saw both parties having open races for their respective presidential nominations.

Swenson authored a study in 2008 ("The Economic Impact of the Iowa Caucus: Gauging the Worth of its First-in-the-Nation Position?" http://www.econ.iastate.edu/research/webpapers/paper_12911.pdf) which found that the major presidential candidates' economic impact to the state was $15.5 million in total sales in the six months preceding the caucuses -- or about one-hundredth of 1 percent of the state's $130 billion gross domestic product value in 2007.

Swenson says while the exposure generated by the caucuses gives them the illusion of a significant economic impact to the state, "the real impact is nowhere near as much as people assume it is." And, he expects that impact to be even less in this campaign cycle.

Read more at IowaCaucus.com