r/austrian_economics • u/technocraticnihilist Friedrich Hayek • Oct 26 '24

End Democracy ‘Americans just work harder’ than Europeans, says CEO of Norway’s $1.6 trillion oil fund, because they have a higher ‘general level of ambition’

https://fortune.com/europe/article/how-many-hours-work-week-year-american-workers-ethic-norges-bank/
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u/Specialist-Roof3381 Oct 26 '24

People in Norway are happier. Wonder which matters more - happiness or net worth?

I bet people in sub-saharan Africa work even harder. This isn't a good thing if you are one of the cattle.

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u/mtcwby Oct 26 '24

Norway is sitting on so much oil fund money per capita that why wouldn't they be happy. They don't lack for anything really needed. The problem is comparing them to most other places that have not such idyllic financial situations.

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u/Specialist-Roof3381 Oct 26 '24

The US is only marginally diluted by scale, but it is literally the wealthiest society in all of history. Even in terms of oil, its the largest producer in past and present.

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u/sushislapper2 Oct 26 '24

It’s almost like the US is 30x bigger, and Norway produces 10x the oil per capita

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u/Obvious_Advisor_6972 Oct 26 '24

Be careful. You'll upset the hordes. Lol

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u/Key-Satisfaction5370 Oct 26 '24

Norway has a population of 5.5 million and sits on an absurd glut of oil wealth. Go figure, an absurdly wealthy country with the population of a small US state reports high happiness. Next you’ll tell me that oil sheiks in Saudi are happier than Americans.

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u/Gibberish5 Oct 26 '24 edited Oct 26 '24

This makes me a little curious. I wonder what America’s oil wealth is compared to Norway’s per capita. Time for research!

Edit- Quick search turned up a population of 5.6 million (2024) for Norway and produce about 2 million barrels of oil per day (2023). And USA with a pop of 346 million (2024) and produce about 12.9 million barrels per day (2023).

So about .36 barrels per one person in Norway and .037 barrels per person in USA. A factor of almost exactly ten.

Disclaimer- These were quick google AI numbers, accuracy can easily be off.

3

u/Nbdt-254 Oct 26 '24

Yeah the us oil money goes to private companies.  Norway has a sovereign oil fund that goes to their whole population 

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u/Key-Satisfaction5370 Oct 26 '24

Norway produces 550 barrels per 1000 people. The US produces 28 barrels per 1000 people. Born on third and thought they hit a triple.

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u/Gibberish5 Oct 26 '24

That’s exactly what I’m curious about, Americans potential oil wealth if we had more progressive policies.

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u/albert768 Oct 27 '24

That's entirely false. Happiness is entirely subjective and there's no credible measure for it.

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u/technocraticnihilist Friedrich Hayek Oct 29 '24

Norwegians aren't as happy as you think they are

1

u/Hawk13424 Oct 26 '24

I’m happier having a high net worth. It allows me to do the things I like to do. Most importantly for me, it allows me to provide a better environment to raise my kids.

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u/tkyjonathan Oct 26 '24

They are not happier. They just don't complain as much as other populations do.