“And importantly … what we are looking at here is how the stock market values companies -- the valuation they put on companies, not in terms of how much they produce, not in terms of employment, but how much companies are worth," says Dr. Walden, a professor of agricultural and resource economics.

“We are going to look at this by sectors, and what we see from 1999 to the current period, biggest gainers in value have been construction, financial services, the energy sector –- that’s no surprise –- the retail sector and the media," he says. "The biggest losers have been telecom, technology, autos and parts, and the food and beverage sectors.

“So this is showing how the relative importance of these parts of our economy has shifted in the financial world. And I think obviously an important part for North Carolina is the shrinkage of the tech and telecom sectors, which were very hot, of course, in the 1990s.”