> Yet, when you look at what Norway has actually produced over the past few decades in terms of innovation, companies, etc. the picture is very, very empty.
I don't agree with this being used as a primary metric for determining the worth of a nation or the value of its policies.
The #1 priority of a country should be the well-being of its people. Not "of its wealthiest"; not "of its economy". The well-being of all its people.
Norway is, last I knew, consistently among the happiest countries on Earth. I think that's a far, far more meaningful metric than "how many new ways to part people from their money have they come up with?"
(Now, I think there's a reasonable argument to be made with respect to things like basic scientific research, improved green technologies and other advances toward ending climate change, etc—particularly since that's vitally important for every nation's long-term well-being. But that's not at all the same thing as "innovation, companies, etc".)
If you are going to use the happiness of the country as justification for something you need to do a bunch of fancy statistics to try and disagregate the specific thing you are justifying from the large basket of differences between the countries you are comparing, as there are often large differences that are unrelated to what you are talking about driving happiness differentials.
It is also extremely disingenuous to call innovation and companies "new ways to part people from their money." People are often parting with their money because that new thing meaningfully improves their lives. Also, the basic scientific research argument is extremely overplayed. Breakthroughs in basic scientific research amount to nothing if they don't make it into the supply chain for goods and services eventually and that happens through company formation.
I don't agree with this being used as a primary metric for determining the worth of a nation or the value of its policies.
The #1 priority of a country should be the well-being of its people. Not "of its wealthiest"; not "of its economy". The well-being of all its people.
Norway is, last I knew, consistently among the happiest countries on Earth. I think that's a far, far more meaningful metric than "how many new ways to part people from their money have they come up with?"
(Now, I think there's a reasonable argument to be made with respect to things like basic scientific research, improved green technologies and other advances toward ending climate change, etc—particularly since that's vitally important for every nation's long-term well-being. But that's not at all the same thing as "innovation, companies, etc".)