I posted this on antother thread and thought some might find it interesting:
RE Don Cox's comments on Alaska's Permanent fund:
I listened to Don Cox and am speechless!!! I always had my doubts about that guy and now I know! He is a fraud. The way to figure out if a person knows what they are talking about is to analyze information one knows about for sure and compare it to what Cox said for instance.
I was involed in fighting for the permanent fund and understand it completely.
Don Cox said Alberta should not follow Alaska as they are dysfunctional" lolololololo.
Alaska has $40 billion invested in its permanent fund and is running billion dollar revenue surpluses each year from the revenue from those investments. Alaskan's pay no state income tax at all; and this year every person in Alaska will get almost $1,700, in an annual distribution of the permanent fund dividend program.
If you look at the structure of the permanent fund it is almost flawless. Alberta is the province that made the big mistake (I will explain at the end of this post).
The Alaska Permanent fund has about 40% in stocks, 40% in bonds and 20% in real estate, foreign securities, etc. Every year the first thing the permanent fund does is inflation proof it by taking earnings that year and depositing them in to the fund according to the CPI.
Then they pay dividends to residents based on a 5 year formula. Then they pay for state government and anything left over goes into the "undistributed income account", which they usually put back into the principle of the permanent fund. We also give, and have money to give, to old people.
1/2 of all income from all state owned natural resources goes into the permanent fund.
Here is where they were really smart and Alberta blew it years ago (Alaska's Permanent fund was based on the old Alberta permanent fund-lol). No money can be invested in Alaska. Why you may ask? Because if you do that, politics will get involved and the fund will be hijacked sooner or later. This is how alberta lost their permanent fund and money years ago as I remember.
And nothing can be spent from the principle of the permanent fund without 3/4 vote by legislature, or constitutional ammendment? Which is impossible. The principle is sacrosanct.
Alaska's Permanent fund is almost flawlessly constructed and the envy of the world. And alaska is the envy of every state, and by far the richest. And so we can fund our needed social programs (without any taxes) which allows our social sructure to stay intact.
So Don Cox was dead wrong! Rather than being dysfunctional we are the leader of all the states and countries in fiscal reponsiblity and consequently Alaska has the best teachers, schools, social systems, etc.
What a crock. I will never listen to that guy again without a great deal of skepticism.
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