Alaska

It's time to disabuse people of their romantic, "Into the Wild" image of Alaska and let them know that economically, it's closer to Nigeria, Venezuala, and Iran than it is to other U.S. states

Palin linked Alaska's state budget to the idea that oil prices will stay very high. Good idea or no, how do people in the other 49 feel about that?

That said, by other measures, Alaska is harder to govern than a smaller, more settled realm in the Lower 48. With vast distances, large numbers of indigenous peoples and a narrowly based extraction economy — with a handful of giant multinational oil corporations dominating the game — some economists say a country like Nigeria might be an apter comparison.