To help gain support for his proposal to pay Alaskans $5,000 in Permanent Fund dividends this year, Gov. Mike Dunleavy cites numbers that the Alaska Permanent Fund gained $10 billion on its investments March 31 through Nov. 30, 2020. The state can afford the extra spending, he says.

That's not entirely accurate. It's misleading.

Before the fund gained $10 billion in eight months, it lost $7 billion in the first three months of the year.

But the governor is not talking about those money-losing months. It's like telling your partner you won $1,000 at the slots and it's OK to spend the money,...