It's not quite the Dutch disease, though. Norway was, at the time, aware of the problem, and thanks to some talented minds (not least Farouk al-Kasim, whose sto

It's not quite the Dutch disease, though. Norway was, at the time, aware of the problem, and thanks to some talented minds (not least Farouk al-Kasim, whose story is fascinating [1]), worked around it by ensuring that the private sector was involved in the process of building up the petroleum business. Also, the oil fund [2] was created to manage the revenue and invest in the future of the population. The fact that the tech startup scene has lagged behind as a result is an unfortunate side effect, but it's nowhere as bad as the Dutch disease, I think. [1] https://www.google.com/search?q=the+iraqi+who+saved+norway+from+oil+site%3Aft.com https://www.google.com/search?q=the+iraqi+who+saved+norway+f... (can't link directly due to paywall) [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Government_Pension_Fund_of_Norway http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Government_Pension_Fund_of_...