How Much Should Alaska Save?

Abstract

Alaska today is in the lucky position of having an estimated $126 billion in petroleum wealth— $45 billion in savings accounts derived from oil revenues, and $81 billion in future state revenues from oil and gas still in the ground--if current official state projections prove accurate. Almost all state revenues come from oil, as they have for 30 years. But oil production is now only a third of what it once was, and analysts think that even with new discoveries and enhanced recovery, production from state lands will keep dropping. So Alaskans face a dilemma: how can we preserve this petroleum wealth for future generations, while still benefitting from it ourselves? The answer is to limit how much we spend today from our petroleum wealth, and invest the savings in income generating assets. The income from those assets would grow over time and gradually replace declining petroleum revenues. We’ve already taken a major step, by depositing 24% of past oil revenues into savings accounts. Is that enough?