Wyoming’s economy in an age of leverage

Wyoming has never needed to be told what to think. But it has always needed the tools to think clearly. In today’s political climate, that may be the most important investment we can make.

For more than 40 years, I taught that free trade makes the world richer. I still believe that. Trade creates value when people exchange freely, when gains are mutual and when cooperation is voluntary. Those ideas helped raise living standards and supported prosperity even in places far from power centers — including Wyoming.

What has changed is not the economics. What has changed is how power is exercised. As stressed by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in his Davos speech, trade, finance and regulation are increasingly treated as tools of leverage rather than cooperation. Tariffs become threats. Financial systems turn into pressure points. Supply chains are seen less as partnerships and more as vulnerabilities to exploit.

Wyoming understands this instinctively. We are a resource-based state, rich in natural and human capital. We already know what it feels like when decisions made elsewhere ripple through our jobs, our land and our communities. We know that leverage — whether over energy, rail, permits or markets — doesn’t always come wrapped in good intentions.

That is exactly why turning inward now would be a misstep. In moments like this, there is a temptation to believe that the safest response is to rely only on ourselves — to treat outside ideas with suspicion, to assume we already know what we need to know. That instinct may feel protective. In practice, it leaves us more vulnerable, not less.

Which brings us to the current budget debate. This year, lawmakers are considering significant spending reductions, including an 11% cut to the University of Wyoming and cuts to other state agencies, despite no overall shortfall in state revenues. These proposals are often framed as discipline, or as skepticism toward “outside ideas” that don’t fit Wyoming.

But this isn’t really about ideology. It’s about whether Wyoming wants to remain viable. In a world where economic rules, markets and infrastructure are being used as leverage, the ability to understand forces beyond our borders is not a luxury. It is a form of self-protection. Universities and state agencies are how a low-population state keeps its footing in a fast-moving, sometimes unforgiving environment.

When we reduce that capacity, we don’t become more independent. We become easier to pressure. If we stop investing in broad education and global knowledge, our children will continue to leave. Our economy will continue to narrow. Our ability to manage energy systems, supply chains and infrastructure will weaken. Pipelines don’t freeze because of ideology — they freeze because expertise and planning disappear.

There is a difference between healthy skepticism and strategic withdrawal. Wyoming has always been skeptical of distant authority and one-size-fits-all solutions. That skepticism has served us well. But assuming we can cut ourselves off from the world’s ideas and still thrive is not independence. It is isolation.

The irony is that this inward turn is happening just as larger players are rediscovering an old idea: that power comes from leverage. History shows where that leads. Trade built on coercion does not last. Economies that run on fear do not innovate. Turning cooperation into a weapon eventually leaves everyone poorer.

This phase will pass, as others like it always have. It is old wine in a new bottle and it still tastes the same. The question is whether Wyoming emerges from it stronger or smaller. Our economic future should not be built on the hope that power will always be used wisely, nor on the illusion that we can go it alone. It should be built on resilience — the ability to adapt, diversify, and engage the world on our own terms.

That means:

• Trading with the world without becoming dependent on any single partner.
• Building economic diversity without surrendering control.
• Designing regulations to protect people, not accumulate leverage.
• Investing in education so Wyoming can understand, challenge and adapt to forces beyond its borders.

None of this means retreating from Wyoming values. It means defending them intelligently. Trade still creates value. Trust still matters. But trust without knowledge — and without exit options — becomes dependency. Wyoming has never been comfortable with that arrangement. It shouldn’t start now.

This isn’t cynicism. It’s responsibility. And in this moment, it may be the most Wyoming idea there is.