The Star Tribune reported yesterday the strong year by northern Minnesota taconite operations and the potential for a slight slow-down in 2013.

The Iron Range economy is deeply tied to national and international trends. All our line graphs roughly resemble the national ones. The difference is timing. We don’t always go up or down at the same time as the rest of the country.

So, while the national economy sputtered for a couple years after the collapse of 2008 and 2009, we recovered quickly and had a robust 2011 and 2012. Now we’re hitting a plateau, just as the nation will as this long, slow recovery continues.