Blog & updates
Plain-English news and analysis on the Fund — what's happening, what it means, and what's at stake for the next generation of Alaskans.
Get Permanent Fund updates
Join the list for short, plain-English updates — legislative votes, the dividend, inflation-proofing, and the decisions that shape the Fund's future. During the legislative session we'll send updates about every two weeks; otherwise, only when something important happens. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
We'll never share your email. It's used only to send Permanent Fund updates.
The blog
All posts
A dividend for the automation age: the PFD as a basic income
As automation reshapes wages, Alaska's 40-year-old experiment in paying everyone a resource dividend is getting a fresh look from economists worldwide. What the evidence actually shows.
Read the post → March 13, 2026MarketsWhen the world moves our Fund: oil shocks and stock markets
A 2026 oil-price spike pushed Alaska's revenue forecast higher — but it's a reminder that the Fund now rises and falls with global markets, not just the North Slope.
Read the post → December 15, 2025Protect the FundThe quietest cut in Juneau: skipping inflation-proofing
It never makes the front page, but failing to inflation-proof the Fund may be the most consequential thing the Legislature does — or doesn't do — all year.
Read the post → September 26, 2025PerformanceFY2025: a 9.4% return — and the question we keep dodging
The Fund earned a solid 9.4% last fiscal year. Good news — but a strong return means little if we let inflation and over-draws erode the Fund underneath it.
Read the post → September 19, 2025DividendA $1,000 dividend — and the fight behind the number
The 2025 dividend came in at $1,000. Behind that round number is the same unresolved question Alaska has wrestled with for a decade: who decides, and by what rule?
Read the post → September 2022Milestone2022: the record $3,284 dividend
High oil prices and an election year produced the largest payout in PFD history. A good moment for families — and a textbook case of how booms tempt the state to spend rather than save.
Read the post → September 2016Turning point2016: the veto that changed the dividend forever
Gov. Walker vetoed half the dividend, the courts upheld it, and the PFD became an annual political fight. The single most important hinge in the modern Fund debate.
Read the post → August 2008History2008: the year of the $1,200 "resource rebate"
Soaring oil prices led Alaska to add a one-time bonus on top of the dividend — about $3,269 per person — and a lesson about the politics of a windfall.
Read the post → June 14, 1982History1982: the first dividend, and a Supreme Court fix
Alaska's first dividend plan paid more to longtime residents — until the U.S. Supreme Court struck it down. How the PFD became one equal check for every Alaskan.
Read the post → November 1976History1976: the year Alaskans chose to save
The story of Gov. Jay Hammond's big idea and the constitutional vote — 75,588 to 38,518 — that created the Permanent Fund and locked oil wealth away for the future.
Read the post →Posts reflect the views of this independent project and are offered for civic education. Each links to its original sources. Want a topic covered? Get in touch.