Once the cap has been set, expenditures across worthy public programmes must be made according to priorities – not by lifting the cap. If the ability to prioritise fails us and the cap is lifted, the long-term margin of manoeuvre will be reduced fairly quickly. Less will be left to our children. 4  The intergenerational perspective was not mentioned in the first public document to contain a broad discussion of the role of oil in Norwegian society, Report no. 25 to the Storting of 1974. The focus was on how the government would spend the revenues from the oil sector to create a “qualitatively better society” – immediately. The oil deposits were not discussed as they are today as wealth to be invested. See Report no. 25 to the Storting (1973–74): “Petroleumsvirksomhetens plass i det norske samfunn” [The role of petroleum activity in Norwegian society], Ministry of Finance. 5  In 1985, Professor Steinar Strøm wrote that it was an understandable human reaction to celebrate Norway’s new oil wealth with a spending spree. At the same time, Strøm pointed out that as oil revenues became substantial, money could be set aside in a fund abroad. Steinar Strøm (1985): “Oljemilliardene – Pengegalopp til sorg eller glede?” [Norway’s oil billions – curse or blessing? ], Sosialøkonomen, 1, p. 246. 6  Report no. 29 to the Storting (2000–2001): “Guidelines for economic policy”, Ministry of Finance.
This may seem to be a modest goal, but is not a trivial one. People of my generation may remember the German Gunter Sachs, one of the heirs to the Opel fortune. He was known for saying that he had not worked a day in his life. 11 Sachs could live off his fortune and his spending was not confined to only useful things. For example, he lavished thousands of red roses on Brigitte Bardot, strewn over her home from a helicopter. There is no shortage of examples of individuals who have spent large portions of their wealth on an opulent lifestyle. But nations do not have the possibility of living off wealth alone. A nation thrives on each other’s labour, as Finance Minister Erik Brofoss stated in his address on the state of economy to the Storting (Norwegian parliament). The economists Jeffrey Sachs and Andrew Warner 12 have shown that countries with abundant natural resources have generally experienced weaker growth than otherwise comparable countries. Perhaps this is not so strange. Sudden wealth in one sector of the economy also results in higher wages and cost levels in other sectors. Such visible wealth can also weaken and crowd out internationally exposed business. Economists refer to this phenomenon as the “Dutch disease” after the Netherlands pursued an expansionary economic policy based on huge revenues from gas sales in the 1960s. When gas production declined, a period of harsh economic restructuring followed. The sheltered sector had to be reduced and the internationally exposed sector increased.