MUNCIE, Ind. -- The UAW strike that has shut down General Motors facilities in 18 states, idling 224,000 employees, may cause the company to close all production facilities in the next few weeks, says a Ball State University economic analyst.

"It appears that the complete shutdown of production for the company, save for a product or two, will occur shortly," said Patrick Barkey, director of the Bureau of Business Research. "With GM apparently resolved to hold out, it simply does not make any sense to operate in the inefficient manner dictated by the shortages and bottlenecks caused by the strike."

The UAW strike, which started as a dispute in a single plant in Flint, Mich., already has some drawing comparisons to the strike in the fall of 1970. Then the giant automaker's doors were shuttered for 67 days by a strike that had a major impact on the economies of many Great Lakes states, including Indiana.

As union and business leaders fight for the upper hand in the war of words, hundreds of communities across Indiana and other states are getting a quick lesson on exactly how much the facilities that operate contribute to their economic base, Barkey said.

The lost paychecks for the idled workers are only part of the story. The supplies, services, and even electricity that factories require are also in limbo, and those who make their living providing them are affected, he said.

In the 1970 strike, the shutdown by General Motors brought about a 55 percent drop in production in vehicle and parts assembly. Since then, much has changed, both within the company and without. Not only is GM's share of the domestic vehicle market down almost fifteen percentage points from those days, but it now operates in a global market that has seen unprecedented increases in productive capacity.

"Unlike the United Parcel Service strike, which caused major disruptions to the flow of goods in the U.S. economy, the effect of the GM strike on the car-buying public will be much less severe," Barkey said. "Not only are there many more alternatives to GM vehicles these days, but those who produce products that compete with GM have the ability, at least in the medium-term, to ramp up production to meet the demand."

These factors combine to offset, at least from a national perspective, the lost production due to the strike, he said.

None of this necessarily help the scores of communities throughout Indiana that will bear the brunt of the strike. As one of the largest private employers in the state, GM's long-term health is of great concern to cities like Kokomo, Anderson, Fort Wayne and others, which are home to dozens of plants, Barkey said.

That is why the issues involved in the strike are so important to the company and the communities, he said.

"GM's situation is similar to a town that waits too long to annex land for roads and parks," Barkey said. "When those areas are built up, the prices, and hence a project's expenses, shoot out of sight. Ford and Chrysler moved to downsize and outsource during the 1980s, when they were bleeding red ink and the union was more amenable to change.

"But now GM is making money, and the price of GM's attempt to stiffen its backbone and trim down is -- in terms of labor strife -- going to be much, much higher," he said.