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Yup, it begun when oil was discovered in Norway. So oil + good location (Europe) == success :)

• brazzy 13y ago
  More specifically: oil + ability and political willingness to exploit it yourself and share the profits among all citizens. As opposed to selling exploitation rights to investors to enrich a kleptocracy.
  • zerr 13y ago
    I have an impression that they're are saving oil/profits for some possible "black day" in the future. And, the "profits" which are shared among all citizens come from high taxes. I might be [partially] wrong though.
    • brazzy 13y ago
      Well, a large part of the oil revenues are put into an investment fund because the oil isn't going to last forever. Profits of that fund go into the public budget, though. According to Wikipedia, there are discussions about how much of the oil revenues should be saved; opponents of using more of them directly say that it would just lead to inflation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Government_Pension_Fund_of_Norway https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Government_Pension_Fund_of...
    • daivd 13y ago
      No, you are correct. The oil money is hardly spent at all. It is invested for future security.