I F Oklahoma City were a state, its economy would be bigger than that of Alaska and four other states, taken individually. By one measure, the city's gross metropolitan product (GMP) in 2005 was $43.1 billion, compared with $39.3 billion for Alaska's gross state product.

By another measure, Oklahoma City's GMP for 2005 ranked it 51st among metro areas in the country. Our friends in Tulsa weren't as fortunate, wi...