Nov 5, 2012

Update on Norway - how much can its citizens get?

In an earlier post, the estimate is $3000 annually per citizen.

Norway's Government Pension Fund reports an asset in 2011 of 3,441 billion NOK, which is about US$600 billion.

This fund comes from Norway's oil revenue:

"Large state revenues from the petroleum activities have resulted in substantial financial assets in the Government Pension Fund. The purpose of the Fund is to facilitate government savings to finance rising public pension expenditures, and support long-term considerations in the spending of government petroleum revenues."

Although it is called a "pension" fund, it is not meant for pension. It is a general state savings, i.e., it is a common wealth that belongs to all citizens.

"The Fund is an instrument for general savings on the part of the State and is not, unlike traditional pension funds, earmarked for specific liabilities."
With a population of 5 million, the asset per citizen is US$120,000.
The long term real return is reported as 4%.

So the real return per citizen is US$4,800 annually.

If Norway becomes a citizen-ownership democracy, the citizen income is at least US$4,800 per citizen. Other forms of common wealth have not been included in this estimate.

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