While doing some research this past week for an upcoming piece in the Alaska Business Monthly (ABM) I ran across a telling footnote. The upcoming piece is about the potential effect of Alaska OCS development on state finances; it will appear in the September edition of the ABM.
The footnote is from a February 2011 joint study prepared for Shell Oil Company by Anchorage-based Northern Economics and the University of Alaska-Anchorage’s Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER). Somewhat misleadingly, the study is entitled “Potential National-Level Benefits of Alaska OCS Development.” The title is somewhat misleading because the 2011 study also updates a review of the state-level benefits reflected in an earlier, 2009 study for the same client by the same groups. Continue reading
Comment: Rep. Gara’s myopic view
(Reprinted from the Juneau Empire, July 7, 2013)
AN OP-ED BY BRAD KEITHLEY
In a recent My Turn piece (“Answers to questions about the oil tax cut,” June 27, 2013), Rep. Les Gara argues that supporters of SB 21 are “spinning” facts. In fact, Rep. Gara is the one who has gone into full “spin” mode.
The real test of whether a change in tax policy is good or bad is its overall, long term revenue impact, not what it generates in a select number of years. By focusing only on the revenue levels estimated to be produced in the first few years, Rep. Gara argues that SB 21 is failed tax policy, when the full set of facts demonstrates otherwise. Continue reading →
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