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The Nordic View

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Scotland’s Good Neighbour « If Scots vote for independence, then Norway will be an important neighbour and ally says John Bryden, political economist and emeritus professor at the University of Aberdeen, and part time professor at NILF, Oslo. (Edited by Vibeke Buen) Norwegians voted for a new government in the autumn, an alliance of conservatives and populists. Meanwhile, Scotland is preparing for a referendum on independence in September 2014, in part to distance itself from the neo-liberal policies of the Thatcher-Blair-Cameron governments since 1979. Norway is Scotland’s closest continental neighbour and the two countries have similar population, geography, and natural resources, as well as much common history.

Maybe Norway should take more interest in the Scottish independence debates and ask themselves why the two countries appear to be moving in different political directions? This is not least because it is necessary to refute the argument that small countries are not ‘viable’. Like this: Like Loading... Dude, where's my North Sea oil money? | Aditya Chakrabortty. Last Wednesday, every single Norwegian became a millionaire – without having to lift a lillefinger. They owe the windfall to their coastline, and a huge dollop of good sense. Since 1990, Norway has been squirreling away its cash from North Sea oil and gas into a rainy-day fund. It's now big enough to see Noah through all 40 of those drizzly days and nights. Last week, the balance hit a million krone for everyone in Norway. Wish it could have been you with a hundred-grand bonus?

All this was kick-started by Margaret Thatcher, the woman who David Cameron claims saved the country. Britain got nothing from the North Sea until the mid-70s – then the pounds started gushing. Hawksworth titled his 2008 paper on the subject: "Dude, where's my oil money? " So where did our billions go? What did Thatcher's grateful children do with their tax cuts? Compare and contrast with the Norwegian experience. Common Weal. Lesley Riddoch: People power could energise politics - News. If more ordinary people had a say – and were listened to – Scotland might make its green targets, writes Lesley Riddoch WAS the rapid departure of George Entwhistle a triumph for democracy?

Commentators now insist the shortest-lived director general of the BBC was always the wrong person for the top job. But how will a new boss be chosen? An online petition calling for a public statement of candidates’ aims before interview is almost bound to be ignored. Viewers and listeners matter – but not that much. Likewise last week’s Holyrood howler. Shortlists and budgets alone explain little about policy direction, political intention, the likelihood of growth or the imminence of change. Transparency and public involvement happen when policy goals are almost reachable – not a second earlier lest disappointment or disagreement kick in. Scots do have strategies aplenty – some are aspirational statements of motherhood and apple pie, others are cloaked in generality.

Compare and contrast Copenhagen. Norway's oil fund buys UK shopping centre Meadowhall. The stake was purchased from a joint venture between London & Stamford Properties and Green Park Investments. The transaction, completed on 6 October, values the entire asset at £1.525 billion pounds, including debt, according to a press release. Norway's oil fund expected to be NOK 4425 billion at the end of 2013 Low interest rates, high income growth and high oil prices have fuelled the economy. “The purchase gives us exposure to one of the largest and most dominant shopping centres in the UK,” says Karsten Kallevig, chief investment officer for real estate at Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), manager of the fund.

Meadowhall, located about 5 kilometres north east of Sheffield city centre, attracts about 25 million visitors a year. The shopping centre contains 141,000 square metres of lettable retail space over two levels. It consists of 219 shops, 53 kiosks, 30 catering units and a cinema with 11 screens. Oil Fund too big for Norway economy Front page - click here! There Is A Nordic Alternative. Tuesday, 09 October 2012 19:37 By Lesley Riddoch There is No Alternative says Chancellor George Osborne. Austerity and welfare cuts are the only game in town – even though the UK has so few vital signs that our economic prospects for the rest of 2012 have just been downgraded by the IMF. Housing benefit for the under 25s may be cut, workers may be “offered” contracts where employment rights are swapped for shares and Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson grabbed the headlines north of the border (some achievement for a Conservative these days) in a conference speech claiming just one in eight Scots makes an overall positive contribution to the public coffers.

She told delegates at the Tory conference: “It is staggering that public sector expenditure makes up a full 50 per cent of Scotland’s GDP and only 12 per cent of people are net contributors.” Are we a “something for nothing” society? Not free but not totally unaffordable either – and those out of work pay no charges. Don't get me wrong. Nordic Horizons. Scotland and Norway: a special relationship? | Andrew Boyle. It always seemed too good to be true. And today it is all too easy to ridicule Alex Salmond for his vision of a far northern "arc of prosperity", flexing from Reykjavik down to Dublin then across Scotland to Oslo: when the Celtic Tiger was flattened on the road like any other poor moggy, Salmond's drive towards independence for Scotland seemed to falter.

But only long enough for Salmond to realign his focus. The pinpoint of his gaze is now directed with laser beam concentration on the country he has often described as the ideal model for a modern Scotland. Interviewed by the BBC a year ago he said: "Norway has breezed through recession more successfully than any other country in Europe … Guess which other country in northern Europe is backed by a trillion pounds of remaining value of oil and gas in the North Sea? " The Scottish market for Norway's gas has become hugely important to Oslo. Jareg has of course the annals of history and recent scientific studies to back up her point.