A wise economist made the point last week that while it’s true more people have left Alaska each of the past 10 years than have moved here, the problem isn’t so much the departures as it is the drop in arrivals.

Alaska has long had a high turnover rate — not everyone likes the weather, the isolation or the lifestyle. They come, they see, they decide to move on. Which means Alaska needs to draw in a constant flow of new residents so that the keepers outnumber the shakers who get away.

It’s that shortage of enough people moving to the 49th state that is the real problem.

It’s scary....