Why Oil Doesn’t Corrupt Norway

Audio editing by Eric Schneider
Motion graphics by Vincent de Langen
Thumbnail by Simon Buckmaster
Writing & Direction by Evan

Thanks to Katzenland for the Vietnamese subtitle translation.

This includes a paid sponsorship which had no part in the writing, editing, or production of the rest of the video.

Video supplied by Getty Images

[leftaroundabout]

Norwegians' favourite activities:
3. skiing
2. getting rich, but stealthily
1. watching foreign-made statistics, videos etc. that confirm “Norway is the best”

[zhevox]

Norway is the definition of "never get high on your own supply".

[Aakkosti]

UK and maritime borders over oil: “I sleep.”
UK and maritime borders over cod: “REAL SHIT”

[ropersix]

By law, Norway only invests their oil fund money in foreign countries/companies. And not being able to invest it in Norwegian companies undoubtedly helps keep corruption way, way down. So that was a smart move, too.

[bhatice]

Difference between Norway, Canada and US from other oil countries is that they were actuals nations before oil was discovered. They had actual goverments and economies before oil. All the middle eastern countries were barely independent before oil was discovered. They had no time to develop governments and national identities before the oil was discovered. And given that they are monarchs or dictators, they have been able to hoard the oil wealth to a few.

[AJGress]

I'm actually writing an essay on Oman's oil-based economy and I'm using Norway as an example to contrast the policies put in place by both governments. This video couldn't have come at a better time. Thank you so much 🙏🏾

[CybranM]

Fun fact: Volvo almost got a majority stake in the Norwegian oil field but since the resources were unproven the company needed to hold a shareholder vote. The shareholders voted no to the deal

[evilleader]

Fun fact: It was an iraqi geologist who helped Norway developing this strategy, he first-hand saw how the discovery of oil destroyed Iraq and helped develop of what is known as Norways oil fund.

[lydia]

"Nations that possess it should be among the richest in the world, yet so rarely do those riches reach the right hands." as an Algerian, this really hits home.

[InvestingEducation]

I really like how the norway sovereign trust has invested its money passively in the stock indices and made good money. Much more than singapore's temasek

[Plex]

As a Norwegian I really enjoyed this, you got a lot right and love to see foreigners taking a deeper dive into our thought process around our oil industry

[VsWalker]

From a Norwegian engineer student back in the day, I gotta say. This video is really well done. This is like an enhanced version of the history lessons we had, updated and more polished in video form. They should definitively be use this in schools as I think it is easier to learn from than the books, especially as digital video courses gets more and more relevant for schools and workplaces alike.

[aksbeixhev]

I believe the Norwegian government also take 70% of the losses when drilling without hitting a pocket. So they take roughly 70% of the profits but also bear a similar percentage of potential losses. Its been a great deal so far.

[GyroCannon]

I disagree with one statement in this video, 5:43, "They would drop in, take the loot, and vanish, leaving hardly a trace"
They certainly leave a lot of environmental devastation and an exploited local economy

[LudosErgoSum]

When the Norwegian government started receiving oil revenue, they hired a philosopher to survey the ethical questions the new riches raised to us as a nation. This resulted in The Government Pension Fund of Norway. In Norwegian society no individual group or corporation hold too much power to influence pivotal decisions apart from the government, subsequently the peoples interest is given priority. This is why strong government, or shall I say functional democratic governance, is necessary to keep forces in check that could otherwise squander unique opportunities with the potential to elevate society as a whole. The wealth of a nation should be managed in a way that support the broad population in various ways and not enable arbitrary entities to utilize (unfair) privileges to enrich themselves. There is of course class differences in Norway, don't get me wrong, but the quality of living for the average citizen is still miles beyond most of the world even on par with wealthy individuals in some countries. This is the very reason I'm always so happy to come home after a travel abroad as there simply is no other place in the world I'd want to live. At the same time I wish more people would realise that strong democratic governance is necessary to keep officials accountable for their decisions and keep people out that could potentially corrupt the decision making process. In the end it might be that Plato was right that the philosophers should rule us - or at least we should strive to let reason and knowledge guide our most important collective questions.

[Greksallad]

Proud of my neighbors for handling all of this responsibly and acting in the general public's best interest. I wouldn't expect anything less from awesome Norway 🇸🇪❤️🇸🇯

[ranilabeyasinghe]

Glad you brought up the Dutch Disease concept. That is basically what helped destroy Venezuela. Stark contrast to Norway.

[runarandersen]

The founding of Norways own oil company was also clever. It helped keeping the jobs in Norway. There was a few smart persons when this started, doing some smart things.

[otmt]

Lived in Norway for 5 years. What almost nobody realizes is Norwegians in they culture desend from poor people. If you didnt store fish and wood for winder you died. If you didnt plan for future may god have mercy on your frozen soul. As such, when found oil they knew what to do with it. Culturally they are most interested in security and survival first, everything else second. It also frowned upon flauntering wealth so you can rub shoulders with the rich out in the street without realizing it.

[ephimp]

Perfect example of how "Big Government" can be a good thing. Size is not the defining feature of good or evil. "Small government" just means corporations take over the things government abdicates. And we all know how good the big corporations are