I mean no disrespect to Mr. Guettabi, but I'm at a complete loss of words to describe his apparent indifference to private sector job growth. He seems informed and sensitive to local government jobs, much less so about private sector advances. Seriously, a 36% increase in private sector job growth in a rural area of the state and he doesn't know how it happened. Not even a guess?

As I read this, he's an ISER economist who WROTE a study of Alaska's 2016 job market. He explains the bad news--and the impact on the public sector--but appears uninformed about the causes of good news. Why?

As we enter this period of fiscal uncertainy, we need to understand what drives private sector investment. Our government-paid economists need to understand and appreciate this sector, and dig deeper. This is the real story we want to read. Probe a bit more, Ms Zak.

Let's demand a bit more accountability from ourselves. We need it to fix the problems we all face now and in the future!