The Alaska Permanent Fund and the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund: Divergent Paths, Divergent Outcomes

Abstract

In 1976, in the aftermath of the OPEC-induced oil boom, the Alaska Permanent Fund (APF) and the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund (AHSTF) were created, with much promise. Yet, though the APF can be said to have fulfilled much of its promise, the AHSTF can be said to have failed. Why is this the case? This chapter discusses the impact of politics, constitutional structure, history, and political culture on how the AHSTF and APF were created, structured, and performed. Politics, for example, influenced almost everything about the AHSTF, including the present-day contest over the annual permanent fund dividend, resulting in a fund that never lived up to its promise. The APF was able to insulate itself, to a certain extent, from politics by creating, at arms’ length, the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation. In addition, constitutional structures, whether presidential, parliamentary, or federal, have left their marks on each fund.