Oil dependent Norway faces serious economic challenges –
The Economist
notes –
“The oil bust is exposing two weaknesses in the Norwegian model. One is bureaucratisation, born of Norway’s enthusiastic embrace of state capitalism. The government owns about 40% of the stockmarket, with large stakes in Telenor, a big telecoms operator; Norsk Hydro, an aluminium producer; Yara, a fertiliser-maker; and DNB, a bank, as well as Statoil. That leads to a monochromatic corporate culture. The Norwegians like to boast that they lead the world in corporate diversity because firms are legally obliged to reserve 40% of board seats for women. But sexual balance does not make up for cultural uniformity: many of the country’s most senior businesspeople studied together at the Norwegian School of Economics, and still live in each other’s pockets.”
“The oil bust is exposing two weaknesses in the Norwegian model. One is bureaucratisation, born of Norway’s enthusiastic embrace of state capitalism. The government owns about 40% of the stockmarket, with large stakes in Telenor, a big telecoms operator; Norsk Hydro, an aluminium producer; Yara, a fertiliser-maker; and DNB, a bank, as well as Statoil. That leads to a monochromatic corporate culture. The Norwegians like to boast that they lead the world in corporate diversity because firms are legally obliged to reserve 40% of board seats for women. But sexual balance does not make up for cultural uniformity: many of the country’s most senior businesspeople studied together at the Norwegian School of Economics, and still live in each other’s pockets.”