Norway has a new complaint. It’s too rich. Economist Martin Bech Holte titled his cautionary bestseller: The Country That Became Too Rich. On book tours across the nation, he has been warning citizens about the side-effects of oil wealth. With a per capita GDP of Rs87 lakh ($100,000), Norway is richer than the US, China, Japan, Britain, France and other developed nations. Besides, in theory, the per capita share in its booming $2 trillion oil fund, the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, is an additional Rs3 crore.
So why is Holte grumbling? The high-profile author laments that Norway is now grappling with stagnant wages, reduced purchasing power due to currency depreciation, low productivity, few science students, fleeing capital that is needed to create private sector jobs at home and municipalities burdened by economic difficulties. He despairs oil wealth has made Norwegians complacent. But evidently, not complacent enough to stop complaining, himself and his critics included. Journalist Terje Erikstad of Norway’s financial newspaper Dagens Naeringsliv mockingly argued that this is a manifestation of Norway’s “complaints-industrial complex” (CIC).
This complex thrives in Norway just like the “military-industrial complex” (MIC) thrives in the US, Russia and Britain. The MIC lobbies with governments to enrich themselves with lucrative defence contracts, allegedly even start and prolong wars. The CIC is powerful and entrenched in Norway, a small, peaceful country in the northern rooftop of Europe. Both complexes are driven by values: the MIC for money, the CIC for equal treatment of citizens.
Imaging: Deni Lal
In most countries, the MIC is viewed with suspicion, if not hostility. But Norwegian society respects complainers, even see them as saviours. Embedded in Norwegian DNA, complaining is a national pastime for several reasons. ‘Janteloven’, the unwritten law that dictates nobody is above others. An egalitarian citizenry strongly conscious of individuals’ rights, fairness and rule of law that kings and hikers must obey. A vigilant society that spots and neutralises deviant behaviour. A nation that believes life can and should be better. Especially because they pay high taxes.
Norwegians prioritise health, happiness and free time for leisure activities. Holte argues that even before the oil revenue, Norwegians enjoyed a good quality of life. But now oil wealth makes the state spend unwisely, he says. His book struck a chord and a nerve, with supporters disparaging wasteful spending and high debt and detractors claiming he had “Golden Age syndrome”—bemoaning the passing of an exaggeratedly glorious past.
Unlike many nations that boast about their achievements, past and present, fiction and fact, Norwegians indulge in self-criticism. Business leader Øyvind Eriksen Søreide forewarns, “Norwegian business is not suitable for the future.” Economic historian Ola Innset counters Holte’s narrative. He says Norway‘s problem is not that the country is “too rich”, but that there are too many rich people. He notes, widening inequality and a weakening welfare state are the real concerns.
Critics say the complainers are absurd because Norway is rich, well-run and democratic with high longevity. But arguably, Norway is a well-administered country because of the complainers’ watchfulness. The national habit of attentive criticism keeps politicians, bureaucrats and citizens in check, curtailing wrongdoing and enabling course corrections.
Journalists, bureaucrats and economists are among the biggest complainers. A saying goes, “The best way to complain is to create.” Norwegians are nifty at that, too, inventing quirky items like cheese slicer to advanced avionics. The nation has among the highest per capita patents in the world. The delicious irony is that those who complain against the complainers are complainers, too.
Pratap is an author and journalist.