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The main thing here is that now there is not one but two tests you must pass before you can become a permanent resident in Norway.
You must pass the oral Norwegian language test at A1 level.You must pass the Social Studies test in whichever language you choose. As before you also need: — 300/600 hours of classes; — to have stayed in Norway for at least 3 years (more or less) continually maintain the main condition for your temporary visa (work, marriage, etc.); — not have committed a serious crime while in Norway.
Maybe they have a surplus because the immigrants That come in do not go on welfare.
I don't understand how a country with no libertarian tradition can have such a huge surplus AND provide cradle-to-grave government handouts to its people.
Something doesn't add up.
Amazing what you can do with a 80% effective tax rate. Don't allow the people to keep what they earned and claim you're taking care of them - it's a liberal paradise.
Tiny country + Huge oil reserves + dumb partisans = mystery how they could have lots of money
I'm increasingly saddened not by people being so uneducated or otherwise dumb, but that they've been empowered by the free trophy generation into thinking they actually have intelligent thoughts and concepts despite any education with regards to the topic at hand.
It's like wow, I graduated highschool, have never taken a serious economics class (does home economics with a C- count?) but I have it all figured out so listen to this!
1) Norway isn't socialist. The means of production are almost-entirely privately owned. There are a few key industries where the government taxes the people, and then uses that tax money to purchase goods and services in a largely market-based economy.
For instance, you can say that the roads in America are "socialist", since they are financed by public money. But the people who get the money, are private construction companies who are bidding for government contracts. That is more a "forced-market"(IE the government is forcing us to buy something we may not want to buy), than it is socialist.
2) Norway is far richer than its neighbors. Why? Because Norway's economy is built on oil. Prior to the discovery of oil, Norway was a fairly poor country, who depended heavily on fishing.
3) While Norway has a relatively generous social safety-net, its culture helps to keep people working(IE not mooching). Part of this is the result of a highly homogeneous population, which doesn't see government benefits as some sort of reparations from whitey. And there is a certain amount of social-stigma, and certain programs/institutions, which helps to push people back to work.
4) Norway certainly spends far less on national defense than the United States. Plus that money stays within its own borders. While the United States, in order to maintain our empire, stations hundreds of thousands of troops in countries all around the world. And much of our money goes into their economies, not ours.
Tell me something that Norway actually produces. Any car, phone, technology, luxury, anything?
All together, Americans spend about 49% of their income on taxes and healthcare. People in Norway spend about the same amount on taxes, which covers most healthcare. They also get far cheaper college, but we won't get into that here.
So, no - there is not some magic "capitalist money printing machine" that just makes everything cost less in America. When you look the numbers, it adds up to about the same in both cases. Income distribution is simply better in places like Norway, which is the main difference.
What % of their population pays tax? Maybe if everyone here had to kick in we wouldn't be paying so much
Tiny country + Huge oil reserves + dumb partisans = mystery how they could have lots of money
I'm increasingly saddened not by people being so uneducated or otherwise dumb, but that they've been empowered by the free trophy generation into thinking they actually have intelligent thoughts and concepts despite any education with regards to the topic at hand.
It's like wow, I graduated highschool, have never taken a serious economics class (does home economics with a C- count?) but I have it all figured out so listen to this!
Hubris.
And venezuala has 5X the population, and 50X the proven oil reserves. Indicating that its more then just oil reserves. Its about how the benefits of having them is distributed. In many countries the state owns the oil companies, or leases the rights to them for them.
Lets do some math. A cost of a barrel of shale oil made in the us is $23.35 cents. $6.42 cents of that is paid to the government. It sells for $70.00.
Norway? $21.21 per barrel in costs....of which $.19 per barrel is paid to the government....but thats deceptive. Because the government owns 2/3rds of the oil company that gets the oil.....meaning that the roughly $48.79 in profit....2/3 of it goes to fund Norways government.
Thus they get $32.71 per barrel that goes towards the citizens benefits....of every barrel. Here in the us? $6.42. We put out 8.8 million barrels a day roughly, or 20.6 billion in taxes to help. Norway puts out FAR less-at 1.6 million...but get a massive 19 billion in benefits.
not socialism or communism but rather Social Democracy.
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