(Norway) We're Rich, You're Not. End of Story. (poverty thru welfare)

The New York Times ^ | 16 apr 2005 | BRUCE BAWER

[TWohlford]

THE received wisdom about economic life in the Nordic countries is easily summed up: people here are incomparably affluent, with all their needs met by an efficient welfare state. They believe it themselves. Yet the reality - as this Oslo-dwelling American can attest, and as some recent studies confirm - is not quite what it appears.

Even as the Scandinavian establishment peddles this dubious line, it serves up a picture of the United States as a nation divided, inequitably, among robber barons and wage slaves, not to mention armies of the homeless and unemployed. It does this to keep people believing that their social welfare system, financed by lofty income taxes, provides far more in the way of economic protections and amenities than the American system. Protections, yes -but some Norwegians might question the part about amenities.

lternatively, the study found, if the E.U. was treated as a single American state, it would rank fifth from the bottom, topping only Arkansas, Montana, West Virginia and Mississippi. In short, while Scandinavians are constantly told how much better they have it than Americans, Timbro's statistics suggest otherwise. So did a paper by a Swedish economics writer, Johan Norberg.

In late March, another study, this one from KPMG, the international accounting and consulting firm, cast light on this paradox. It indicated that when disposable income was adjusted for cost of living, Scandinavians were the poorest people in Western Europe. Danes had the lowest adjusted income, Norwegians the second lowest, Swedes the third. Spain and Portugal, with two of Europe's least regulated economies, led the list.

[TWohlford]

Once again we see the welfare state staying alive thru deception and shared poverty.

[Tribune7]

This was in the New York Times????

[TWohlford]

Yes, this was the NYT.

However, the author is not a staff writer.

[martin_fierro]

We got lions and tigers only in Kenya

[franksolich]

Ping for the Norway ping list.



You know, this is something about which I have always wondered.

I've always watched the statistics, and of course am influenced by the "mainstream media" (i.e., the "'America bad, everybody else good' media"), but I have always been left wondering.....what is the truth?

Of course, many of my impressions about life in the Paradise of the Workers and Peasants (Ukraine and Russia) were immediately demolished upon first meeting the sanitary facilities.....in the airplane, even before I got over there.

One suspects that life is actually pretty good in Norway and all that, but not as good as the "image."

[BIGZ]

Come on get real! Put into perspective, Norway has 4.5 million people, all the North Sea oil, and virtually no minorities. Of course Socialism works under this criteria.

Socialized Medicine works great under this system also.

[swampfox98]

Norway has 4.5 million people, all the North Sea oil, and virtually no minorities.

Boy, how I envy them. No Mexicans taking over their country. Norway may be poor but they are abour 100 times smarter than the US.

[aberaussie]

bttt

[feedback doctor]

Socialism and Communisim, the opiate of liberals

[feedback doctor]

Of course Socialism works under this criteria.

Socialism can only appear to succeed for a temporary amount of time. Where socialism starts from scratch it fails miserably and usually results in brutal dictatorship. In the instances where democracies think they can vote themselves the treasury, socialism starts off great (from the fruits of capitalism), but rapidly is not self-sustaining. It then becomes more radically socialist to try to fix itself, then it leads to brutal dictatorship

[Publius6961]

This Articles stinks. The name of the study is not given, nor a link to where it might be found.
What was the methodology?

[DumpsterDiver]

...the welfare state staying alive thru deception and shared poverty.

It does appear that way. These were the last two paragraphs from the article:

Meanwhile, the references to Norway as "the world's richest country" keep on coming. An April 2 article in Dagsavisen, a major Oslo daily, asked: How is it that "in the world's richest country we're tearing down social services that were built up when Norway was much poorer?"

Obviously, this is one misconception that won't be put to rest by a measly think-tank study or two.

[FreedomSurge]

The Timbro report has been posted to FR multiple times. Do a search.

[cgbg]

then it leads to brutal dictatorship

It will be really interesting to see how the Socialist experiment in Scandinavia ends.

I am not familiar with the population demographics, but if they had a baby boom after WWII the end could be very very soon.

[BIGZ]

Total satire my friend, from a total Freeper.

Norway is not Socialistic in the true sense and as long as the oil holds out it will have a viable economy.

The Media in it's desire to denigrate the US holds Countries such as Norway in high esteem to push the success of socialism.

[expatpat]

According to eurotwit, they have a lot of Muslims now.

[franksolich]

That's what I've always suspected; that the mainstream media likes to create these "Edens" to compare with America.

As for Norway having a lot of Muslims, the number (according to eurotwit) is still small; however, that it is growing is of concern. It is nothing like, for example, Sweden, where the Moslems control a couple of the major cities now--also Norway is somewhat more, uh, vigorous in expelling "undesirable aliens" than we are.

[snowsislander]

And they drive around in wrecks. In 2003, when my partner and I took his teenage brother to New York - his first trip outside of Europe - he stared boggle-eyed at the cars in the Newark Airport parking lot, as mesmerized as Robin Williams in a New York grocery store in "Moscow on the Hudson."

If they want a real shock, they should visit Tokyo. The average Japanese car on the street in Tokyo is much nicer than anywhere else I have visited.

[Wonder Warthog]

"Boy, how I envy them. No Mexicans taking over their country. Norway may be poor but they are abour 100 times smarter than the US."

I think I'd prefer Mexicans to Muslims, which is the case in Scandinavia.

[ApplegateRanch]

Yah, boot, all da free lutefisk you can eat has to count fer sumptin!