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Agreed. And some people are already saying that. From the article itself: “We have become complacent,” Mr. Mork added. “More and more vacation houses are being

• Retric 17y ago
  The government enjoys a budget surplus of 11 percent and its ledger is entirely free of debt. The have a huge surplus and are saving 11% of their governmnets bugdet. At some point their savings could probably fund all government spending at which point running out of oil would not be the end of the world. Granted government spending is only 40% of GDP but 30 years from now they could have 40% unemployment and still have a stable functioning society.
  • coryrc 17y ago
    But how safe is their investment? What can they own to keep themselves in a comfortable lifestyle (nearly) forever? Stocks and currency won't do it. It's probably part of the reason for the push to renewable energy and energy efficiency. And also services/IP?
• vidarh 17y ago
  "The dream" will end only if the oil runs out before the oil fund is large enough to offset the tax gap. As it is, most oil revenue is set aside, and there wouldn't be a massive budget deficit if the oil revenue went away tomorrow. Doesn't mean there wouldn't need to be some adjustment if the oil revenue dried up, since it provides a lot of employment and the cost of dealing with increased unemployment could be significant, but Norway is surprisingly independent of the oil revenue, and becoming increasingly independent of it as the oil fund swells.