On a scale of spending muscle....

• Author: Safir, Andrew
• Position: The Economy According to Safir

Do You KNOW THE DIFFERENCE between the Philosopher, the Economist and the Government? The first ponders the great truths of the Universe, such as where Man fits within the Grand Scheme. The second delves into the capital required to get Man there and to help him keep up with the Grand Scheme's Joneses once he arrives. The third, of course, is concerned with taxing the Joneses, the Grand Scheme and Man, not necessarily in that order.

In the end, it all boils down to three basic issues: Where do we fit? What do we earn? How can they tax it? Let's take a look at these questions from an Alaskan viewpoint.

First, where do we fit? Actually, from a philosophical standpoint, I've no idea. This is an economics column. Relative size is the issue, not existence. Have you ever wondered where you stand in the grand scheme of the world's economic entities?

The answer is just about 70, a guestimate stemming from a review of countries and multinational corporations according to the size of their annual output. This is a typical measure used by economists to compare international spending muscle.

The United States comes out first on this basis by a wide margin. In fact, it may surprise you to know that no other country in the world has even half the gross national product (i.e., annual sales) of the United States.

Even at 70, however, Alaska has neighbors that aren't all that shabby. We fit in just behind Atlantic Richfield and just ahead of Chrysler. OK, so I lied. Chrysler is a little shabby, but they're a fading star anyway.

If Alaska keeps up the modest growth path we've seen in the last year or so, we could overtake New Zealand (66) and Israel (67) in the next 12 months. This would put us within driving distance of Toyota (64) and only a slick away from Amoco (62). Don't plan on bottoming-out against Exxon (24) or running into General Motors (22) any time soon, however. These guys are up there I with Switzerland (23) and Saudi Arabia (26).

What we actually earn is less impressive. At year-end 1989, Alaska had a gross state product of about $21.3 billion. While this is about 10 times the net worth of Donald Trump, it accounts for only 0.04 percent of...