A hard life on the fjords yields to unbridled consumerism.
A century ago, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen wrote: “Home life ceases to be free and beautiful as soon as it is founded on borrowing and debt.”
Today, who knows what he’d say about the fact that Norway has an oil fund of over five trillion kroner (just over €600bn) yet is burdened by private debt amounting to 200% of its GDP.
Public debt is virtually zero, which means that Norway has steered clear of the worst of the recession. Though financially sound, the country is nevertheless having to come to terms with an insidious cultural and social upheaval. Journalist Simen Sætre has identified the evil as ‘petromania’ and says it stems from the copious amounts of money earned from the North Sea’s Brent crude oil (€70bn per year), the primary source of funding for the country’s generous welfare system. In his book Petromania and Petrostan, Sætre claims that easy money “corrupted Norwegians, encouraging them to work less, retire sooner and take sick days more frequently.”
Today, Norwegians work an average of 1,420 hours a year (20% less than the Italians, according to the OECD), they enjoy at least 21 paid holidays and 55 weeks of parental leave.
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A hard life on the fjords yields to unbridled consumerism.
