Live data from Hacker News

How Norway has avoided the 'curse of oil'

bbc.com

71–80 of 146 posts

Re: How Norway has avoided the 'curse of oil'

#71
post #63
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. They are. However, the IWC resolution to ban whaling is not binding. It's advisory and in my opinion not based on facts but feelings.

[deleted]

Whaling is a tradition in Norway and has been going on since medieval times.

More information: http://www.fisheries.no/ecosystems-and-stocks/marine_stocks/...

In my view, whalers are decent people - they generally aren't "jerks". You probably have never even talked to nor met any one of them.

I understand your point that hunting and farming of animals in general is not good, but it's a pretty hard habit to break.

This is how the world works at this time - people hunt all sort of animals whether it's ethically right or not. Also remember that of all the meat produced in this world, whale meat is but a tiny fraction of it, so perhaps spend more of your time protesting the way fish is treated (which is also a valid concern).

Re: How Norway has avoided the 'curse of oil'

#72
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This must really be upsetting for the extreme liberals of the country. "Public resources being invested sensibly! Horrifying! You can tell that this is an awful idea by looking at how miserable the people of Norway are, and how badly their businesses are doing. You should liberate yourselves by giving all of it to private interests. That's the definition of freedom!" /end sarcasm

I think you were downvoted because in the U.S. the term 'liberal' has a different meaning than in different parts of the world.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberalism_by_country

Re: How Norway has avoided the 'curse of oil'

#73
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"However, you should take into consideration that living expenses in Norway are higher than in many other countries." I don't have a job right now, no savings, 29 years old, and paperwork bore me. There are dozens of those "programs", and I don't want to spend one entire week sorting it out to discover I can't afford to just live over there. I want to go there no question asked, to work, not to study.

Try Stockholm, it has a huge tech sector and you can go there to work as an EU citizen, no questions asked. You can't afford to live in stockholm either without a job of course, but programmers get jobs quite easily if they speak English, and salaries are decent.

Actually, I think it's just as easy to get into Norway as an EU citizen because Norway is in the EEC. It's confusing, I know, but the freedom of movement thing is applicable here as well.

Re: How Norway has avoided the 'curse of oil'

#74
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Finnish, not Norwegian - I think you guys have done great. Read the story of Farouk al-Kasim a few months ago, fascinating. It does seem like a stroke of luck that the right people were there in the beginning. His nationality is both ironic and sad considering where Iraq is today

Could it be the same one: http://www.psmag.com/navigation/nature-and-technology/iraqi-... ?

Yep, same guy

Re: How Norway has avoided the 'curse of oil'

#75
post #63
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. They are. However, the IWC resolution to ban whaling is not binding. It's advisory and in my opinion not based on facts but feelings.

[deleted]

If you write "Fact" you really should produce facts.

* The whales that we in Norway hunt are not endangered.

* Norway is not the richest country in the world.

Also no need to call anyone jerks.

Here is some more info: http://www.fisheries.no/ecosystems-and-stocks/marine_stocks/...

Re: How Norway has avoided the 'curse of oil'

#76
Norway could have let its own citizens decide how to spend their share of the money. That would probably result in some spending more than others, resulting in inequality and an overall worse quality of life, even for the wealthier.

Instead they decided on a mandatory saving of the money. This might have been good for them, but it creates a giant State which wouldn't fly in other cultures.

Re: How Norway has avoided the 'curse of oil'

#77
post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Try Stockholm, it has a huge tech sector and you can go there to work as an EU citizen, no questions asked. You can't afford to live in stockholm either without a job of course, but programmers get jobs quite easily if they speak English, and salaries are decent.

Actually, I think it's just as easy to get into Norway as an EU citizen because Norway is in the EEC. It's confusing, I know, but the freedom of movement thing is applicable here as well.

I'd think so too, but not sure about exact terms and amounts of paperwork. Oslo has higher rents and prices but also higher wages and lower taxes. I think he size of the tech/programming job market is probably quite a bit larger in Stockholm though. So if the advice is for developers only, I'd recommend Stockholm over Oslo. For many other jobs it would be the other way around.

Re: How Norway has avoided the 'curse of oil'

#79
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Tesla isn't priced as a luxury car in Norway. Electric vehicles are exempt from taxes and fees, which is mostly where the money goes when you buy a more traditional vehicle. They also don't pay anything when passing toll booths, IIRC. Where I grew up, people now pay ~$10 just to pass toll booths to and from work every day. There are other benefits as well, like free parking, Tesla's free charging station--and mos…

All of this is indeed correct. People here don't buy Teslas or other electronic cars because of the environment. Most do it for the economical reasons listed above [1]. However there has been a lot of discussion recently about whether these economical advantages are here to stay. Currently the electric cars are clogging up the bus/taxi lanes and the government is losing money as a result of the electric car boom we'v…

That's a classic "Tragedy of the Commons" scenario. The electric car benefits are great when only a few are on the road, but when everyone gets one it turns into a problem.

That will become a problem in the US as well, since US highway construction and maintenance is mostly funded from motor fuel taxes.

Re: How Norway has avoided the 'curse of oil'

#80
post #71
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[deleted]

Whaling is a tradition in Norway and has been going on since medieval times. More information: http://www.fisheries.no/ecosystems-and-stocks/marine_stocks/... In my view, whalers are decent people - they generally aren't "jerks". You probably have never even talked to nor met any one of them. I understand your point that hunting and farming of animals in general is not good, but it's a pretty hard habit to break. Thi…

> Whaling is a tradition in Norway and has been going on since medieval times.

Jumping in a longboat and pillaging neighboring villages was also a Norwegian tradition in medieval times, but we find such practices barbaric today.

Post reply on HN