ABSTRACT
Economic development has been a major point of focus in the public policy. Petroleum resource development has resulted in some rural development, although this growth tends to be indirectly rather than directly causally related. While individuals may disagree about what constitutes "adequate," "acceptable," "comfortable," or "modern," etc., there is perhaps general agreement within broad parameters as to what is included in our image of a developed rural Alaska. Thus, central to the question of the feasibility of economic development for rural Alaska is whether or not some form of comparative advantage can be identified and exploited. Specifically, development of a scale and diversity implied in our discussion would require a workforce that would quickly exhaust the existing labor supply. The underlying problem has been and remains the economic costs of resource development in relation to the potential for economic benefits and profits. In short, there are serious problems in terras of the feasibility of our economic development goals.
