Artificial intelligence (AI) and emerging technologies more broadly are rapidly developing and changing the types of goods and services that people demand and the ways in which they are produced and received. As a result, employment in many industries and occupations is being disrupted. The transitions are likely to accelerate during the next decade, further affecting nearly every aspect of life and work.

This 2020 volume of An Economic Report to the Governor of the State of Tennessee is the forty-fourth in a series of annual reports compiled in response to requests by state government officials for assistance in achieving greater interdepartmental consistency in planning and budgeting efforts sensitive to the overall economic environment. Both short-term, or business cycle-sensitive forecasts, and longer-term, or trend forecasts, are provided in this report.

The Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Tennessee, under contract with the Department of Finance and Administration of the State of Tennessee, conducted a survey of Tennessee residents to ascertain their insurance status and use of medical facilities and their level of satisfaction with the TennCare program. A target sample size of 5,000 households allows us to obtain accurate estimates for subpopulations. The Boyd Center prepared the survey instrument in cooperation with personnel from the Division of TennCare.