Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of Alaska Anchorage
Abstract
Oil money has driven most of the growth and paid for state
government operations in Alaska for 40 years. We’ve
all gotten used to that money, so it’s easy to
underestimate how much of the state’s
prosperity is built on oil. Think about this: without
oil, the economy today would be only half the size.
But now times are changing. The North Slope
is producing just a third the oil it once did—and there’s a danger
Alaskans will assume the state can keep going the way it is, without
future oil development. Not true.Northrim Bank
