In 1970 the UK and Norway were roughly equal, almost no debt, and owned all their Public Services. Now the UK owns nothing and has £3tn of debt. While Norway still owns everything and has the equivilant of £10tn. That's how privatisation 'works'. - ThreadSky

bladeofthes.bsky.social • 3 days ago

In 1970 the UK and Norway were roughly equal, almost no debt, and owned all their Public Services.

Now the UK owns nothing and has £3tn of debt.

While Norway still owns everything and has the equivilant of £10tn.

That's how privatisation 'works'.

Comments

blogdignag.bsky.social•3 days ago

Sure. Whilst Norway is rich it has a low population, a sea full of oil and gas and is unquestionably one of the most boring places on earth. The UK is culturally alive, complex, a military power with more military bases than anyone except USA and is one of the worlds 7 richest countries.

votecnp.bsky.social•3 days ago

Right, it's all to the benefit of the oligarchs. Privatization is always about helping a handful of people become even richer.

johnl67.bsky.social•3 days ago

The only thing we have more of are tax dodging Millionaires and Billionaires.

jea-commonsense.bsky.social•3 days ago

I get your overall point but you're talking about apples and oranges between the two countries.

mesoho.bsky.social•3 days ago

In what way specifically?

callymeg.bsky.social•3 days ago

It was the oil. Norway used the oil bonus to set up the wealth fund. UK (Thatcher) used it to break the unions.

geoff1946.bsky.social•3 days ago

Norway "banked" its North Sea Oil revenues - the UK squandered theirs.

olivia-transwoman.bsky.social•3 days ago

15 years ago, £1.96tn of that debt didn't exist.

stevenaylor.bsky.social•3 days ago

Nah. They invested their oil tax revenues to create a public wealth fund. We didn’t. I agree that unrestrained l privatisation has been a disaster for the U.K however.

keithstalin.bsky.social•3 days ago

And the people are way poorer too! (Which means they have to rely more on welfare....)

Corruption and extraction of value

sjsedmonds.bsky.social•3 days ago

Watching Scandinavia by Simon Reeves just amplified what a brilliant job Norway did with its North Sea income, where Britain did not. It was stark.

rosshardy.bsky.social•3 days ago

Conveniently forgetting that Norway taxes the arse out of natural resources.

Now do every other natural resource nations like US, Australia, Russia, Canada, China etc.

ralphyh.bsky.social•3 days ago

That’s the point.

rosshardy.bsky.social•3 days ago

Thanks, I get that.

I’m keen to compare an apple with an apple, not with a banana.

That means resource, population, economic spend / costs.

jurikm.bsky.social•3 days ago

Well, and oil and gas?

thisisme7.bsky.social•3 days ago

The GOP with tax cuts since Reagan in the US have almost decimated the working class. Everyone knows how wealthy the super wealthy have gotten. People are getting afraid there is not enough money left with the debt they recruited for important services. Privatization can be a monster, no competition

svensson2000.bsky.social•3 days ago

Because Norway never joined EU.

dub116.bsky.social•3 days ago

Nothing to do with the EU.

lierhag1.bsky.social•3 days ago

And still... Every other election, Norwegians vote to demolish it all.

greilk.bsky.social•3 days ago

Høire & Fremstegspartiet are threats on par with UK tories. They _will_ sell the country to their cronies.

jamessteel2008.bsky.social•3 days ago

Proof that socialism can work if done correctly.

kevin-on-earth.bsky.social•3 days ago

I think it's more about not being ideology-driven at all but drawing the best from various political (including socialism) principles to build a balanced system in the interest of the population as a whole. Govt doing its job instead of treating the population as an expendable business resource.

ros14.bsky.social•3 days ago

We see it.
Look at the small print.
Look at renationalised trains 😢

vespalien.bsky.social•3 days ago

Thatcher's trickle down legacy has crippled us ever since.

babelfish9.bsky.social•2 days ago

Because Murdoch has no voice in Norway.

leylandcacti.bsky.social•3 days ago

all sold off by Thatcher, and he acolytes.....

noeldarlow.bsky.social•3 days ago

I think the figures are wrong but underlying point is good.

private11.bsky.social•3 days ago

You threw it all in the toilet in the Tatcher period. "Privatesation was the new year trend. More efficient!!!?
🤬

justjoe2024.bsky.social•3 days ago

Blending is the key. Thanks to our corrupted congress, The US has gone too far letting healthcare, etc. be for-profit and making regulation a dirty word.

"Norway has a "mixed" economy, meaning it's not purely capitalist nor socialist. It combines free-market principles with government regulation"

garyquinn1967.bsky.social•3 days ago

I saw Simon Reeves documentary on Norway last week....I was astounded how well they run a country...Kudos to them 👍✅

tregas5.bsky.social•3 days ago

Until some populist comes along and introduces the concept of “ the others are getting all the real benefits”

noeldarlow.bsky.social•3 days ago

Amazing what you can do when the idea of a common good is allowed to exist.

davekidd-58.bsky.social•3 days ago

Look into the Shetland Charitable Trust. The then SIC negotiated a payment for every bbl of oil flowing thru Sullom Voe.
2024 Balance Sheet shows funds of £445m for a population of c23K.
So a Wealth Fund was possible here, there just wasn’t the political will! Tories privatised BP between 79-87!

davekidd-58.bsky.social•3 days ago

You forgot about the increased wealth of those considered “rich” and the politically connected from the 70s!

mesoho.bsky.social•3 days ago

And Norway is a country of <5million
Britain is a country of nearly 70 million

THAT'S how fucked we are

jympton.bsky.social•3 days ago

Yes, but their water executives aren’t obscenely rich.

ecogenic.bsky.social•3 days ago

Trying to reduce neoliberalism to 'UK vs Norway' is very weird. You imagine money has inherent value? You a destitute Norwegian living on the periphery of civilisation? Britain and most other places in Europe have always been infinitely more wealthy than Norway. You just don't know what wealth is.😱

ecogenic.bsky.social•3 days ago

When war escalates and international trade plummets, Norway risks becoming a humanitarian crisis within months. That's how poor Norway is, in reality. Get washed up with a suitcase full of $10 trillion on a remote uninhabited island and find out how a suitcase full of spuds is worth more. Economics.

ecogenic.bsky.social•3 days ago

Norway is a resource-poor petrostate on the periphery cursed by oil, an unfortunate geography and miserable climate. The world's least self-sufficient nation. The irony of your economics illiteracy is how you fail to see Norway needs to invest in parasitising foreign economic activity and assets. 😱

meeyooer.bsky.social•3 days ago

You should be comparing Scotland with Norway rather than UK

mesoho.bsky.social•3 days ago

Norway did not have an oppressing nation coming in and taking all their oil money thought

callymeg.bsky.social•3 days ago

Why? It was Thatcher who used the Scottish oil money to break the unions and bring in privatisation.

petelowe-exx.bsky.social•3 days ago

But it's made a large number of expats with offshore bank accounts very rich. So that's all right then.

frenchbill.bsky.social•2 days ago

Well said thank you !

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