The problem with being too rich

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 ₹87 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 ₹3 crore.

- ANITA PRATAP

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).