How we wish our oil revenues were better managed

instead of squandered.

The Norwegians were overly conservative (imagine saving for future generations) and the direct opposites of the Arab countries (known for their ostentatious display of their opulence), while our country is somewhere in between - providing half the government's revenues and not disclosing where the rest of the revenues went... until one day, our future generations are going to complain about the debts we left behind.

'The Government Pension Fund - Global (Norwegian: Statens pensjonsfond utland, SPU) is a fund into which the surplus wealth produced by Norwegian petroleum income is deposited. The fund changed name in January 2006 from its previous name The Petroleum Fund of Norway.

The fund is commonly referred to as The Petroleum Fund (Norwegian: Oljefondet). As of the valuation in June 2007, it was the largest pension fund in Europe and the fourth largest in the world, although it is not actually a pension fund as it derives its financial backing from oil profits and not pension contributions. As of 30 September 2009 its total value is NOR 2.549 trillion ($455Bn), holding 0.77 per cent of global equity equity markets. With 1.25 per cent of European stocks, it is said to be the largest stock owner in Europe. Despite the influx of oil money, Norway has not reduced their taxes nor have they introduced subsidies or use the money for white-elephants projects. They have kept their oil profits for the future generations of Norwegians.'

What the Arabs are known for...
It's a Mercedes Benz owned by an Abu Dhabi OIL billionaire (naturally).

Featuring the newly developed V10 quad turbo with 1,600 horsepower and 2800nm of torque
0-100km/h in less than 2secs, 1/4 mile in 6.89 secs running on biofuel.

That is NOT stainless steel, people; it is WHITE GOLD!


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