Alberta's politics are changing in response to powerful economic, social and political forces. The contributors focus on developments since the election of the Progressive Conservatives in 1971.

In many commodity-based economies, rollercoaster boom-and-bust cycles have come to be viewed almost as an unavoidable characteristic. Framed mainly in the context of the Alberta economy, the articles in this volume explore a wide range of issues associated with the historical phenomenon of recurring periods of boom and bust, including reasons for their apparent inevitability, dealing with revenue volatility, possible diversification strategies, savings policy, and challenges faced by policy makers. Re-examining and shedding new light on these struggles, Boom and Bust Again is an important contribution to the literature on policy issues for readers in the fields of economics, business, finance, and public policy. Contributors: Robert L. Ascah, Jason Brisbois, Colin Busby, Edward J. Chambers, Bev Dahlby, Stephen Duckett, J. C. Herbert Emery, Nicholas Emter, Roger Gibbins, Brad R. Humphreys, Ronald Kneebone, Gordon Kramer, Stuart Landon, Kathleen Macaspac, Victor A. Matheson, Melville McMillan, John D. Murray, Alice O. Nakamura, Al O'Brien, David L. Ryan, Liesje Sarnecki, Constance Smith.

Although a history of protest politics has done so much to define western Canada and to place it outside the Canadian mainstream, the aspirations and frustrations that animated western discontent over the years have been replaced by a new reality: the West is in, and many of the levers of national economic and political power rest in western Canadian hands. The protest tradition has yielded a dynamic region that leads rather than reacts to national economic, social, and political change. The westward shift of the Canadian economy and demography is likely to be an enduring structural change that reflects and is reinforced by the transformation of the continental and global economies. At the same time, western Canada faces major challenges, including finding a place for a sustainable resource economy in a rapidly changing global environment, establishing a full and modern partnership with Aboriginal peoples, and creating urban environments that will attract and retain human capital. None of these challenges are unique to the West but they all play out with great force, and great immediacy, in western Canada.

"Western Visions, Western Futures" explores the interplay between western alienation and western aspirations. Because of regional optimism, western Canadians often feel alienated from the rest of Canada or, more specifically, from the federal government: western Canadians are concerned that their aspirations are not shared by the rest of Canada and, worse, that conflicting "national"policy choices and political realities have and will work to undermine the interests of the West. The book is rich in both data and history. Combining strong analysis with graphs and illustrative quotations, it presents a comprehensive overview of key western Canadian trends and policy issues and places these within a national context.

"Western Visions, Western Futures" outlines a number of process and policy options for federal and provincial governments both to help fulfill western aspirations and to address western alienation. The authors argue that the future prosperity and well-being of Canada are integrally tied to the future of the West, and leaving western alienation unaddressed for another 50 or 100 years will only serve to weaken or destroy the whole country.

"Western Visions, Western Futures "is a revised, updated, and expanded edition of "Western Visions by Roger Gibbins and Sonia Arrison (Broadview Press 1995), there is little in common between the two books. Many of the themes are the same, but the new book draws heavily on a wealth of Canada West Foundation data that has recently come available.