Geographic isolation, a subarctic climate, large size, and a regionally diverse landscape make Alaska a unique part of the United States. The factors that make Alaska so unique also contribute to her present lack of industrial and agricultural production, which requires shipment into the state of most of the goods necessary for life. In filling the need for such goods, the state of Washington has been, and continues to be, the principal marketing and transportation center for Alaska-associated trade.

The specific objectives of this publication are to: ( 1) present a first look in specific detail at the input-output tables of the Alaskan economy, thereby examining Alaskan interindustry interactions and dependencies; and (2) indicate, via relevant examples, how the information contained in these typical input-out tables can be used by private and public policymakers.