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Trustees' papers volume V

THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE PERMANENT FUND: Perspectives on the Origins of Alaska's Oil Savings Account

 

  • published February, 1997

     

    Table of Contents

    1. A Founder's Reflections on the Early Days of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation
      Elmer Rasmuson speech, presented to the APFC Board of Directors, September 28, 1993
    2. The Creation of the Alaska Permanent Fund: A Short History
      Joan Kasson, written for the APFC, November 1983
    3. The Permanent Fund Dividend Program: Alaska's Noble Experiment
      Clifford John Groh and Gregg Erickson, originally appearing in the Alaska Journal, Summer 1983
    4. Alaska's Permanent Fund: Legislative History, Intent and Operations
      Rural Research Agency, Alaska State Senate, January 1986 (Abridged January 1997)

     

    Executive Summary

    • Chapter 1 Introduction
    • Chapter 2 Issues in the Development of the Permanent Fund
    • Chapter 3 Fiscal Structure of the Permanent Fund
    • Chapter 4 Conclusions

     

    Dear Fellow Alaskans,

    The Board of Trustees is pleased to present the fifth in a series of Trustee Papers that trace and examine the major issues surrounding the establishment and development of the Alaska Permanent Fund. This latest edition is entitled: The Early History of the Alaska Permanent Fund: Perspectives on the Origins of Alaska's Oil Savings Account. It examines the initial debate that defined the Fund's mission and its early policy decisions.

    This paper consists of four separate documents. The first, a speech by Elmer Rasmuson, the Trustees' first president, examines the establishment of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation and the Fund's early investment philosophy.

    Joan Kasson's "The Creation of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation" follows the debate about the shape and powers of the corporation and the many purposes it could fulfill.

    The third section, The Permanent Fund Dividend Program, looks at Alaska's unique decision to distribute dividends directly to its residents instead of following the more conventional program of using revenues to fund traditional governmental programs.

    The final document is an in-depth analysis of the Legislative History, Intent and Operations of the Fund, and examines such policy decisions as the Fund's intent, its corporate structure, the dividend program and the prudent investor rule.

    We hope you will find this paper as informative as the others that have preceded it. If you have ideas or suggestions about future Trustee Papers, please don't hesitate to contact me.

     

    Sincerely,

    Grace Berg Schaible

    Chair, Board of Trustees