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Michael considered fate at 09:57   |   Permalink   |   Post a Comment

Oslo City Hall
In Norway, the government busied itself with the surplus cash generated by it's strong oil economy by creating the Petroleum Fund in 1990 in an attempt to deal with the likelyhood of volatile oil markets and the decline in oil income in the future. It is quite large, at US$292 billion - well over seven times the size of the US$38 billion Alaska Permanent Fund. While the Alaska fund pays dividends to it's citizens, it has far fewer members (Alaska's population is less than 700,000) and has been going since the late 1970's.

Oslofjorden
While Norwegians seem a bit miffed with certain aspects of their socialistic government (as I find any intelligent person is, in some parts, unhappy with their particular government) they seem particularly proud of the achievements of the Petrol Fund. More than one of them brought it up in separate conversation with me and they all seemed pleased that the government had instruments set in place that were meant for inflation and economic control.

Oslo Piers
Not surprisingly, Norway has a pretty strong economy. They have the second largest per capita GDP in the world - no doubt part of the reason they have held back from the EU and yet the union has been happy enough to deal with them. Some Norwegians spoke of the general European perception that Norway was the quiet king of Europe, a staid and well behaved economic centerpiece. Whether these feelings are truly shared with other Europeans, it is hard to say.

New Construction near the posh shopping and nightlife area of Aker Brygge
Regardless, for a tiny country that straddles the Artic Circle and is roughly the size of Montana with about the same number of people as Alabama (4.6 million people), they seem to be doing alright for themselves.