Does not compute

Here's another pair of seemingly contradictory headlines from the Edmonton Journal:

Edmonton ranked among top performing global economies

Calgary was listed as having gross domestic product per capita of $54,080 U.S., and having grown this by 1.5 per cent last year and seen employment gains of 2.7 per cent.

Edmonton was second among Canadian cities with GDP per capita of $43,934 U.S., up 1.2 per cent from a year earlier. Employment there grew 2.4 per cent.

Modest cuts at U of A won’t impact students, president says

Budget cuts at the university are “modest” and won’t have a negative impact on students, says Indira Samarasekera, president of the University of Alberta.
....
With no increase in provincial grants for the last two years, the U of A has faced two-per-cent budget cuts each year and faces a third tight year unless this spring’s provincial budget brings an increase in the operating grant.

To reduce spending, faculty took off days without pay in 2010, and some gave up office phones. Professors who took early retirement were not replaced and support staff positions were cut through attrition and some layoffs. The faculty of science eliminated 55 positions in the last 19 months.

The arts faculty is preparing to cut seven faculty positions in 2012 if there is no increase in funding this spring.

PS: The clue to all this is that the price of natural gas is now down to $2.48 (per million British thermal units, or mmBtu, in case you were interested — those damned Brits!), so GoA royalty revenues are low. What about $100 oil? The GoA currently collects minimal royalties from the tar sands operations, and there is little "conventional" oil left to pump. So while the private sector thrives and fuels a vibrant local economy, the public sector is in deficit and decline.