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> I always hear "Norway is a capitalist country" when their economy is primarily in the hands of the state, more than for example Venezuela. Can you please pro

> I always hear "Norway is a capitalist country" when their economy is primarily in the hands of the state, more than for example Venezuela. Can you please provide some sources backing up your claim? What metric did you use? The metrics that I would use, like the Index of Economic Freedom by The Heritage Foundation, seem to contradict your claim. The fact that the state owns some companies in key industrial sectors and has stakes in others does not mean that the country's economy is primarily in the hands of the state.

jerojero 3y ago
Someone else has already posted a good source for it. But I just wanted to add here that the Heritage Foundation is a conservative think tank particularly known for pushing "free-market economics" (read as: neoliberal policies of hyper-privatisation) so obviously it's on their best interest to label countries such as the nordic ones more capitalist than socialist. And I mean, yeah, nordic countries for sure participate in the free-market... but Capitalism is defined by private ownership; so when you have such important portions of your economy be collectively, socially or communally owned (state, coops, labour unions) it's misleading to use such labels so lightly. These are mixed-economies, and I would even go as far as to say they're more socialist than capitalist. Socialism does have a bad reputation though. So I don't blame for these countries to label themselves as "capitalist"; i mean, it's better for business.
Nevermark 3y ago
It wouldn't be a contradiction to live in a country where most productive enterprises were owned by the state, but where individuals still had great economic freedom. There is a big difference between governments owning things vs. exclusions to citizens owning things.
indigo945 3y ago
The Index of Economic Freedom is based on ideological arguments, not material analysis. Norway's government revenue makes up about 60% of its GDP [1], in part due to its share in oil, gas and fishing - this is in the top ten in the world. Venezuela actually has the lowest share of government revenue in the world, at about 5% of GDP [1], the black markets caused by hyperinflation probably playing a part here. [1]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_government_spending_as_percentage_of_GDP https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_governm...
- 0xBDB 3y ago
  A better measure than revenue would be public ownership of property, but this produces some surprising results. I am not sure whether the fact that Singapore is the second most socialist country on the planet would likely be more distressing to the left or the right. https://www.peoplespolicyproject.org/2018/03/09/how-capitalist-is-singapore-really/ https://www.peoplespolicyproject.org/2018/03/09/how-capitali...

jerojero 3y ago

Someone else has already posted a good source for it. But I just wanted to add here that the Heritage Foundation is a conservative think tank particularly known for pushing "free-market economics" (read as: neoliberal policies of hyper-privatisation) so obviously it's on their best interest to label countries such as the nordic ones more capitalist than socialist. And I mean, yeah, nordic countries for sure participate in the free-market... but Capitalism is defined by private ownership; so when you have such important portions of your economy be collectively, socially or communally owned (state, coops, labour unions) it's misleading to use such labels so lightly. These are mixed-economies, and I would even go as far as to say they're more socialist than capitalist. Socialism does have a bad reputation though. So I don't blame for these countries to label themselves as "capitalist"; i mean, it's better for business.

Nevermark 3y ago

It wouldn't be a contradiction to live in a country where most productive enterprises were owned by the state, but where individuals still had great economic freedom. There is a big difference between governments owning things vs. exclusions to citizens owning things.

indigo945 3y ago

The Index of Economic Freedom is based on ideological arguments, not material analysis. Norway's government revenue makes up about 60% of its GDP [1], in part due to its share in oil, gas and fishing - this is in the top ten in the world. Venezuela actually has the lowest share of government revenue in the world, at about 5% of GDP [1], the black markets caused by hyperinflation probably playing a part here. [1]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_government_spending_as_percentage_of_GDP https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_governm...

0xBDB 3y ago
A better measure than revenue would be public ownership of property, but this produces some surprising results. I am not sure whether the fact that Singapore is the second most socialist country on the planet would likely be more distressing to the left or the right. https://www.peoplespolicyproject.org/2018/03/09/how-capitalist-is-singapore-really/ https://www.peoplespolicyproject.org/2018/03/09/how-capitali...