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If you compare Norway to the UAE (which includes Dubai, Abu Dhabi, etc) while Norway is investing its oil wealth in a sovereign fund, UAE is investing in real e

by raheemm 17y ago

If you compare Norway to the UAE (which includes Dubai, Abu Dhabi, etc) while Norway is investing its oil wealth in a sovereign fund, UAE is investing in real estate, tourism and other sectors. Both have rich social safety nets. In this way, both these energy exporting nations are smart in reinvesting/saving today's surplus. One interesting difference is that UAE is a federation of fairly autonomous states or emirates. So some states are already in the post-scarcity era (Dubai) while other states are still in the surplus era (Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khiamah, etc). It makes for an interesting economic development scenario.

hs 17y ago
but norway is debt-free (accourding tfa) i'm not sure about uae, especially dubai
- raheemm 17y ago
  Good point. I quickly did a google check and UAE does have debt but could not find percentage of GDP figures or how they compare with other countries.
  - anthonyrubin 17y ago
    https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2186rank.html https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/...
    - jibiki 17y ago
      That list says that Norway's public debt is 52% of GDP. (It puts the UK at 47%, and the UAE at 22%.)
      - tallanvor 17y ago
        A lot of that is due to the fact that a large percentage of Norwegians are homeowners, and when a 1 bedroom apartment in Oslo can easily cost more than $200,000, well, that will add up quickly.
        Retric 17y ago
        Their government has 350 billion / 4.7 million = 74,468$ in their oil fund per person including children. So the average person would need to be holding over 100,000$ in debt (including children) for that to balance out which seems fishy to me.
aaronblohowiak 17y ago
Yes, but wheras Dubai employs slave labor to build ecological atrocities, Norway is investing the money in the future of its people. It is also quite interesting that dealing with middle-eastern immigrants is a controversial issue in Norway (especially because they largely refuse to assimilate.)
- raheemm 17y ago
  Slave labor is wrong. Dubai is wrong for using it. So is anyone else who does. Norway rightly deserves credit in this regard. My initial comment is from a macro-economic point of view of how countries use/abuse their natural resources.

by raheemm 17y ago

hs 17y ago

but norway is debt-free (accourding tfa) i'm not sure about uae, especially dubai

raheemm 17y ago
Good point. I quickly did a google check and UAE does have debt but could not find percentage of GDP figures or how they compare with other countries.
- anthonyrubin 17y ago
  https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2186rank.html https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/...
  - jibiki 17y ago
    That list says that Norway's public debt is 52% of GDP. (It puts the UK at 47%, and the UAE at 22%.)
    - tallanvor 17y ago
      A lot of that is due to the fact that a large percentage of Norwegians are homeowners, and when a 1 bedroom apartment in Oslo can easily cost more than $200,000, well, that will add up quickly.
      - Retric 17y ago
        Their government has 350 billion / 4.7 million = 74,468$ in their oil fund per person including children. So the average person would need to be holding over 100,000$ in debt (including children) for that to balance out which seems fishy to me.

aaronblohowiak 17y ago

Yes, but wheras Dubai employs slave labor to build ecological atrocities, Norway is investing the money in the future of its people. It is also quite interesting that dealing with middle-eastern immigrants is a controversial issue in Norway (especially because they largely refuse to assimilate.)

raheemm 17y ago
Slave labor is wrong. Dubai is wrong for using it. So is anyone else who does. Norway rightly deserves credit in this regard. My initial comment is from a macro-economic point of view of how countries use/abuse their natural resources.