[Info-vax] The changing world

[Arne Vajhøj]

On 7/7/2022 5:36 AM, Johnny Billquist wrote:
> On 2022-07-07 02:22, Arne Vajhøj wrote:
>> On 7/6/2022 7:33 PM, Simon Clubley wrote:
>>> On 2022-07-06, Johnny Billquist <bqt at softjar.se> wrote:
>>>> I'm originally from Sweden, so I think I can make some comments about
>>>> the nordics as well. They are rational to a certain point, but I
>>>> wouldn't trust them to make totally rational decisions. Sometimes they
>>>> would, but there are also times when they very broken. Of those
>>>> countries, the one I would trust behaving the most responsible are the
>>>> Finnish.
>>>
>>> Interesting. Based on my knowledge so far of the Nordic countries,
>>> Finland would not have been the first Nordic country I would have 
>>> chosen.
>>>
>>> [Norway is by far the Nordic country I hear the most about.]
>>
>> Norway has proven to be financial responsible. They are putting
>> all their extra oil revenue in a fund instead of spending it
>> (the fund now has 1.35 T$ in assets for a population of
>> 5.4 million - that is very impressive).
> 
> They do have an impressive financial situation. Not convinced about 
> their sensibility, though. :-)
> 
> Norway haven't shown much success in general. But the oil have been a 
> windfall that they have made good use of. But apart from that, I can't 
> see much that they do very sensibly.
> 
> You could even argue that they are not using all the oil money sensibly 
> either. They are putting it all more or less in a fund. It's being 
> careful in a way, but is it sensible?

Not spending a windfall but saving it seems sensible to me.

>> Denmark and Sweden are not like that. Their economy is way
>> better than in southern europe, but I suspect that
>> is more due to an extremely good starting point and
>> not due to any political will the last 20 years.
> 
> The good starting point comes as a payoff from way back, when they 
> actually were more responsible. The problem is that they were so 
> successful at it back then that they have now gotten used to that they 
> can do and deal with anything without having to consider the costs or 
> alternatives.
> Lessons forgotten from the past.

Yep.

Arne