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The New York Times has a story today on how the collapse in oil prices has destroyed the oil-based euphoria that Louisiana enjoyed just six months ago, when the money was flowing fast.

There are similarities with Alaska, but as a Wall Street Journal reporter put it last week, the 49th state remains one of the most "financially sound" in the country.

The state has plenty of reserves to carry it through the next couple of years without a major budget showdown.

That's not the case in most of the country, where 43 states are in the red.

Alaska may have lost $10 billion from the Alaska Permanent Fund, now valued at $29 billion, but California, with a population of 38 million, faces a deficit of $42 billion in the next 18 months.

The Times story says that Louisiana was spending freely when oil was well above $100 and many people thought the price was going to stay high.

“In Louisiana, the oil-drunk always ends badly. This time, though, the political stakes are bigger than in the past, as the Republican Party’s national pinup, Gov. Bobby Jindal, has to absorb the brunt of the state’s abrupt shift in fortunes. After glorying in the largess earlier this year, Mr. Jindal has gone to issuing sober news releases about hiring freezes and the new austerity,” the Times said.

“His fate is tied as much as anybody’s to Louisiana’s overdependence on oil. Severance taxes, mostly from oil and gas, made up just over 8 percent of state tax revenue in 2007, according to Census Bureau data, much less than Alaska’s 64 percent, but higher than Texas’ 6.9 percent. The total take, including royalties and leases from oil, gas and other resources, accounts for just under 17 percent of the Louisiana budget.”

“But while the leading good-government group here, citing that addiction, warned last May against the Legislature’s plan for a $360 million income tax cut, Mr. Jindal called the tax break ‘terrific news’ and happily signed it into law as legislators cheered.”

One of the many differences between Louisiana and Alaska is that the temporary burst in oil prices to extreme heights occurred at a time when Alaska was enjoying a new profits-based tax system.

The surpluses built up this year will insulate Alaska from the collapse, but it’s an open question as to how long the cash will last.

For 2009 at least, Alaska is not likely to see major reductions in state spending, given the precarious nature of the U.S. economy and the traditions of Alaska politics.

YOUNG DELEGATES: Seven young people from the Fairbanks area are among the 55 Alaskans named to the 2009 Conference of Young Alaskans.

They are: Elizabeth Rexford, Cassidy Phillips, Carlton Eide, Brandon Meston, Elise Sorum, Dani Carlson and Theresa Woldstad.

FULL PLANE: The first Japan Airlines charter flight to Fairbanks, set for Dec. 27, is booked solid, with 370 seats sold.

ALASKA AIRLINES:The state will no longer book seats on Alaska Airlines with Easy Biz, but will get "up-front discounts," the Palin administration announced.

"The state will no longer collect miles for free tickets but individuals will still be able to collect personal mileage for their travel," the adminstration says.

CHATANIKA:The 34th annual Christmas party at the Chatanika Lodge is set for Saturday. The action starts at about 5:30 p.m. Santa is expected about an hour later.

INFIELD FLY: The acting director of the Alaska Bar Association continuting education program has died. One of his claims to fame was a law review article he wrote comparing the infield fly rule to the development of common law.

William Stevens, a Phillies fan, was in Anchorage for his temporary job at the time of his death from a heart attack, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

"'It has given me far more than the 15 minutes of fame Andy Warhol said I should get. With recent flurries of interest in the piece, I am probably up to 21 minutes and 15 seconds,' Mr. Stevens told Robert M. Jarvis, a law professor who wrote an article about 'The Common Law Origins of the Infield Fly Rule' in 2002 in the journal Entertainment and Sports Lawyer."