“The Land That Became Too Rich” 🇳🇴 — I cannot wait until this book drops.
Yesterday I went to a preview event for the book “Landet som ble for rikt” by Martin Bech Holte.
Hold on because what I learned was rather concerning.
1️⃣ 50%+ of Norwegian wealth among the top 100 investors/FOs/HNWIs has fled the country in just the last few years and the problem is accelerating
2️⃣ Over the last decade Norwegian workers have had 0% growth in real wages (without factoring the cost of housing price increases, so actually negative)
3️⃣ Swedish households have saved the equivalent of Norway’s sovereign wealth fund since 1995, meaning the Norwegian “safety net” of oil wealth is an illusion
4️⃣ In a decade, the amount of oil money spent on social services has ballooned 10x from NOK 50m to NOK 500m (ca $50b) while services have worsened
This was, of course, only the tip of the iceberg 🧊
I have to give serious credit to Martin for telling the story of Norway as a sequel to that of Sweden in such a fun and engaging way. Sweden, experiencing the same boom cycle-turned-mismanagement managed to turn the ship around and in the past 2 decades become one of the strongest economies in Europe.
What are some of the solutions then? 💡
Originally, the oil fund was meant to reduce taxes, increase national R&D spend and support the management of natural monopolies and the banking sector. Jens Stoltenberg’s vision has been warped into subsidies for sick leave (leading to the highest rate of sickness in Europe), government inefficiencies and so on.
…A radical reimagining of government services for the modern age.
…Oil fund dividends directly in the pockets of everyday people.
…Stable, long-term tax policy that encourages entrepreneurship.
Big ups to Mesh Community for the incredible event. But wow, big change is needed.
Hey stranger! 🥟
I’m looking for a cross-functional ops role at an ambitious +/- Series A startup. To learn more, visit my portfolio page — https://yum.butterystack.com/about/
I created the Buttery Stack 🥞 tools directory to help startups discover the best software to build leverage and scale — https://yum.butterystack.com/home/