Permanent Fund loses $3 billion in Trump stock market crash

UPDATED: The Alaska Permanent Fund has shed $3.2 billion of market value so far during the Trump Liberation Day stock market crash, dropping from $81.7 billion to $78.5. billion.

This does not count the numerous other state accounts, including the pension systems, that have tens of billions more invested in stocks. They do not post daily market values, the way the Permanent Fund does

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Dermot Cole Comments
Trump's tariff tirade will be bad for Alaska

I am waiting to hear the arguments about how the Trump trade war, which has the backing of Alaska Republicans not named Sen. Lisa Murkowski, will be great for Alaska.

That it will be great for the export of Alaska fish and that Trump’s attempt to blackmail countries in Asia is just what is needed to get the Alaska gas pipeline built.

This, after all, is the Golden Age of Alaska, brought to us by the great and powerful Trump, according to Gov. Mike Dunleavy, Sen. Dan Sullivan and Rep. Nick Begich 3.

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Dermot Cole Comments
Bill to close $100 million Hilcorp loophole advances in Alaska Senate

The Senate bill to close the glaring loophole that enriches billionaire Jeff Hildebrand to the tune of $100 million a year or more moved out of the Senate Resources Committee Wednesday.

The Legislature should have closed the Hilcorp loophole in 2019 when he bought out BP. Since then many hundreds of millions that could have gone to state services, including the Permanent Fund Dividend, went to Hildebrand’s pockets in Texas.

The oil industry propaganda, which is thoughtlessly copied and repeated year after year, never mentions this high-stakes cash flow Outside.

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Dermot Cole Comments
Legislators should have demanded to see the AIDEA economic analysis

Tuesday was the perfect day for Randy Ruaro to release the “robust, independent analysis” of the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority that was completed more than a year ago and kept secret.

Not because it was April Fools’ Day, but because the Alaska House and Senate held a joint meeting of their state affairs committees.

Legislators should have demanded to see what they received for the $250,000 contract.

Ruaro addressed the topic “What is AIDEA and how does it benefit Alaskans?”

There is no better document to answer that question about benefits than the study prepared for AIDEA and completed more than a year ago by Northern Economics of Anchorage for $250,000.

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Dermot Cole Comments