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Agreed, it is not sustainable. Alaska put themselves in this situation by growing government whenever oil prices were high without any regard to oil prices dro

Agreed, it is not sustainable. Alaska put themselves in this situation by growing government whenever oil prices were high without any regard to oil prices dropping. There was an opportunity to build Alaska wealth without taxes but I feel the time has passed. If Alaska had instead taken the 75% share of oil revenue allocated to government and invested it the same as the people's portion they wouldn't be in this situation. The entire historical debacle just illustrates in vivid color how horrendous politicians are at managing money. Edit: 75% for government not 25%. 25% is for the dividend fund.

omegaworks 7y ago
>The entire historical debacle just illustrates in vivid color how horrendous politicians are at managing money. This is not true everywhere. Norway has a sovereign wealth fund that is doing quite well. Libya was once the most prosperous African nation before the US demolished their government. Sovereign wealth funds are an effective management strategy for the resource curse, if western nation backed multinational corporations don't find a way to seize control of it and/or block you from accessing the global marketplace.
- seanmcdirmid 7y ago
  From what I heard, it’s own people got tired of Ghadaffi’s crap and revolted, but let e know if that is just western media bias.
  - ljf 7y ago
    Check out the Adam Curtis documentary/social commentary film 'Bitter Lake' for more on this
- tastyfreeze 7y ago
  An Alaska wealth fund is what I had alluded to. It would have been a prudent investment in the wealth of Alaska. But, that didn't happen when the money was there. Now, there isn't the necessary time or money to build a wealth fund. Maybe the pain of the coming cuts will be enough to encourage building a fund for the future. I haven't seen anything that makes me think it will but, I can dream. It is really good to read that there is at least one country that built a wealth fund to provide for the government and citizens.
- WalterBright 7y ago
  > Norway has a sovereign wealth fund that is doing quite well. 20% of Norway's GDP comes from oil revenues (the government owns the oil extraction business). It remains to be seen how things would go if their oil revenues ceased.
SantalBlush 7y ago
>The entire historical debacle just illustrates in vivid color how horrendous politicians are at managing money. I think they are incentivized to mismanage money. Voters want low taxes and government programs more than they want a balanced budget.

omegaworks 7y ago

>The entire historical debacle just illustrates in vivid color how horrendous politicians are at managing money. This is not true everywhere. Norway has a sovereign wealth fund that is doing quite well. Libya was once the most prosperous African nation before the US demolished their government. Sovereign wealth funds are an effective management strategy for the resource curse, if western nation backed multinational corporations don't find a way to seize control of it and/or block you from accessing the global marketplace.

seanmcdirmid 7y ago
From what I heard, it’s own people got tired of Ghadaffi’s crap and revolted, but let e know if that is just western media bias.
- ljf 7y ago
  Check out the Adam Curtis documentary/social commentary film 'Bitter Lake' for more on this
tastyfreeze 7y ago
An Alaska wealth fund is what I had alluded to. It would have been a prudent investment in the wealth of Alaska. But, that didn't happen when the money was there. Now, there isn't the necessary time or money to build a wealth fund. Maybe the pain of the coming cuts will be enough to encourage building a fund for the future. I haven't seen anything that makes me think it will but, I can dream. It is really good to read that there is at least one country that built a wealth fund to provide for the government and citizens.
WalterBright 7y ago
> Norway has a sovereign wealth fund that is doing quite well. 20% of Norway's GDP comes from oil revenues (the government owns the oil extraction business). It remains to be seen how things would go if their oil revenues ceased.

SantalBlush 7y ago

>The entire historical debacle just illustrates in vivid color how horrendous politicians are at managing money. I think they are incentivized to mismanage money. Voters want low taxes and government programs more than they want a balanced budget.