Here’s an interesting point of view from a Norwegian responding to a newspaper report about the reasons for his country coming top of the Happiest Country table.
“Norway is only affluent because of gas and oil.”
This is a common misunderstanding, also shared by many young Norwegians. That we became affluent because of the oil and gas.
The truth is that our affluence and rather low income inequalities are entirely due to POLITICS, conscious choices. There are lots of oil rich places in the world with a starving population.
At the time in the late 60s when oil was found, we were lucky to have some politicians who understood what this could develop into, and radical enough to make sure the profits wouldn’t disappear out to Exxon or Shell, but profit the entire population. The state claimed ownership of all petro resources on the continental shelf, and leases drilling sectors to oil companies – the largest, StatOil, being owned mostly be the Norwegian state. There are generous tax-deductions for exploratory drilling, but once production starts they pay a whopping 78% tax on the incomes. And it’s still profitable enough for companies to queue up for contracts. Which just shows how profitable oil drilling is, and what extreme profits the international oil companies (now including StatOil having become imperialistic) make in places with lax laws
I can remember Norway pre-oil. It wasn’t a power stricken place. When I was born in the 60s everything was already in place: good houses with heating and bathroom, good food and clothes, public libraries and swimming pools, free education, free health care, cheap electricity, car and TV, fresh air and no coal power plants.
That state of welfare was the result of planned policies from the unions and the Labour government, which was reelected for decades. The single most important thing for Norwegian post-WWII prosperity was the labour protection laws, and the strong unions who cooperated on modernization and rationalizations in the work place, but demanded good wages, shorter days, mandatory holidays and a comprehensive welfare state.
The oil riches came in just as icing on the cake.