Is Norway the ten plate nation for all to follow?

la gran siete

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It certainly the one that appeals to me most a social democrat state which has:
a) the second highest GDP per capita in the world
b)The second wealthiest nation in monetary value in the world
c)It has a VERY low Gini coefficient which means that the gap between the highest and lowest paid is lower than most nations
d)It runs a mixed economy,a prosperous capitalist welfare state featuring a combination of free market activity and large state ownership in certain key sectors
e)It has a very low unemployment rate
f)The hourly productivity levels, as well as average hourly wages in Norway are among the highest in the world
g) it has an excellent free health care system
h) 46 weeks paid parental leave
I) a first class education system paid by the state

Sounds .like my kind of country and what i like about it most is the fact a government ,backed by the unions,can take action against ANY company that it has a stake in should it over pay its executives, by simply removing them.It seems that Norwegians will not tolerate excessive executive pay aware because it leads to inflation.Last year there were few cases where executive pay went up by 16.3% whilst average worker wages only went up by 4.3% .This caused a great deal of resentment as well it might.

Its only flaw is a refusal to join the EU but i believe in time they will
 
Template?

No thanks, too expensive. We have enough layabouts over here without an even more generous welfare system breeding more of them.

As for joining the suicide pact that is the EU; Their politicians (natch) have tried twice, but the public have sensibly rejected it both times. Ain't democracy a bitch.
 
Of course Norways success is in no way related to it being a small country with a lot of oil wealth. It's all down to socialism.
 
Norway has huge natural resources and a small population. They can afford the high cost of maintaining socialism.

LGS has already gone down this path several times before and here it is again.

:) Template
 
What, the whole nation uses 'ten plates,' can't have much of a ceramics industry!;)
 
What, the whole nation uses 'ten plates,' can't have much of a ceramics industry!;)

The Grauniad's typos are rubbing off on him.
 
This is a country with under 5 million population, isn't part of the EU and has a different economy and work ethic.


Choosing to be like a certain nation state is like choosing to be your favourite actor. You can wear the clothes and modify the voice but you can't be them. There is no need for a pine tree to try to copy an oak tree, they are different and have to make their own way in the forest.
 
It certainly the one that appeals to me most a social democrat state

It is just too simplistic to say we should use the template of another country.
Norway has less than 5 million people and all fairly spread out. There are no inner city problems(to speak of). No generation to generation benefit dependence as we have in many large towns. And the centres of population in Norway have industries/ fishing to support them. They also have the revenues from oil and gas revenue.

Maybe Scotland, after Independence could use Norway's template? The socialist tendencies are stronger, the population is small and they have oil revenues.;)
 
Template?

No thanks, too expensive. We have enough layabouts over here without an even more generous welfare system breeding more of them.

As for joining the suicide pact that is the EU; Their politicians (natch) have tried twice, but the public have sensibly rejected it both times. Ain't democracy a bitch.

I wasnt aware that Norway had too many layabouts.The welfare system seems to work very well there
 
Another thing I like about it is that has the best penal system in the world with prisons being the most humane criminals are not just written off , they learn to be productive whilst in prison and no one is incarcerated for more than 21 years
 
It is just too simplistic to say we should use the template of another country.
Norway has less than 5 million people and all fairly spread out. There are no inner city problems(to speak of). No generation to generation benefit dependence as we have in many large towns. And the centres of population in Norway have industries/ fishing to support them. They also have the revenues from oil and gas revenue.

Maybe Scotland, after Independence could use Norway's template? The socialist tendencies are stronger, the population is small and they have oil revenues.;)
I am not suggesting we should be entirely like them but we can certainly learn from them.Their egalitarian system works very well for them and there is no reason why it shouldnt for us , indeed we once were far more egalitarian than we are now as was the USA.Neo liberalism has been our undoing ,in fact its been disaster as it has led to a more and more fragmented and divisive society thanks to la Scratcher
 
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Norway has huge natural resources and a small population. They can afford the high cost of maintaining socialism.

LGS has already gone down this path several times before and here it is again.

:) Template
Bolivia has a democratically elected socialist Government as well
 
la gran siete said:
I am not suggesting we should be entirely like them but we can certainly learn from them.Their egalitarian system works very well for them and there is no reason why it shouldnt for us , indeed we once were far more egalitarian than we are now as was the USA.Neo liberalism has been our undoing ,in fact its been disaster as it has led to a more and more fragmented and divisive society thanks to la Scratcher

:boring:
 
I wasnt aware that Norway had too many layabouts.The welfare system seems to work very well there

They have the highest rate of people on disability benefits in Europe.

Having a sizeable minority sponging off the poor dumb saps who actually bother to get out of bed & work is not a good basis for any society. You truly want social justice? How about you throw some their way for once.
 
There are obviously things we can learn from them, but as said they wouldn't make a very good template as we just don't fit into the same mould.

Also North Korea has 0% unemployment, but I don't see many people saying we should use them as a template.

A country like Germany is probably better to look at as a more direct comparison, but we can no doubt learn and adapt from most other nations, it is something we have done throughout history.
 
Its what this country should of been if good ol Maggie hadn't used the oil money for the country's mass unemployment
 
Its what this country should of been if good ol Maggie hadn't used the oil money for the country's mass unemployment

Of course it is...
:suicide:
 
There are obviously things we can learn from them, but as said they wouldn't make a very good template as we just don't fit into the same mould.

Also North Korea has 0% unemployment, but I don't see many people saying we should use them as a template.

A country like Germany is probably better to look at as a more direct comparison, but we can no doubt learn and adapt from most other nations, it is something we have done throughout history.

Err North Korea is a dictatorship Norway , the last time I checked wasnt and isn't.The point is a)we can learn from them b) its obviously a mixed economy that works very well and gives the lie that only a truly free market economy as envisaged by the likes of Hayek can really work.What interests me the most is how their policies work for the benefit of their society as a whole and that their values are based on egalitarianism.
We can also learn from Germany without a doubt.For example they have large number of mid to large sized companies with worker participating at boardroom level which not only help decide on company policy but control the remuneration paid to their executives
 
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They have the highest rate of people on disability benefits in Europe.

Having a sizeable minority sponging off the poor dumb saps who actually bother to get out of bed & work is not a good basis for any society. You truly want social justice? How about you throw some their way for once.

perhaps a lot of people have accidents are borne disabled or suffer mental health problems .Either way it doesnt matter when there are so many positives
 
Of course it is...
:suicide:

I thought the point relevant, there is a direct correlation in the lifestyle of the norwegian people that is massively linked to its wealth via the north sea.
Do you know many norwegians? and before you ask yes I do
 
As already said, small population and more income from oil and gas than it needs.

Also not in the EU.

Don't know what imigration rules are like, how hard it is to go and live there etc. If it joined the EU would it be flooded by all the nations' layabouts who want to live off benefits. What would the country look like then.

I've been to Oslo a few times on business and one thing I did notice and my hosts confirmed was poor service. Now I'm in two minds about this. It is down to the equality, which is definity real and a good thing. But a bad side-product was that people in the service industry (e.g. hotel and restaurant staff) do not feel the need to be polite and considerate. Some I encountered were downright rude and unhelpful. My hosts volunteered that it was a problem and to counter it there by businesses to employ people from Sweden for such work.

Cheers,

Nigel
 
John Arne Riise doesn't count Kopchoir. ;)



Riiiiight.

yup it is right because if its a choice between having a large number of disabled people, a few of which maybe scrounging and large numbers of unemployed , working people living in poverty,lower standard of living and higher rate of crime, I know which i would prefer
 

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