The New York Times Catches Up...

Nothing new here, to readers of the Edge and other aware individuals, that the country of Norway has not succumbed to the bubblicious greedfest that permeated the US and rest of the world's economies in the last few (or many) years. The culture of that country dictated that, since its oil resources were limited (as of course, are all natural resources, but this is necessary to state, since the idea of limits is a startling one for many people), provisions should be made for the eventual running out, resulting in an actual (as opposed to say, the US Social Security fund) trust fund for the benefits of all citizens. This in addition to the many many social benefits and real security enjoyed by the country's citizens. Of course, the purpose of the piece is to highlight that vast differences between the US and Norway, which it does, but there's another interesting comparison that's not being made, and it lies in oil production and decline. Since the nations of Norway and Great Britain are owners of one-half each of the oil resource (the North Sea), it's quite instructive to note that while Norway prudently managed its inevitable decline in oil production (and this is undisputed, that the North Sea has reached and past peak), Great Britain played the grasshopper role, and heedlessly squandered its resource on frivolities.

In Chaos' opinion, the fact that the nation's paper of record has now noticed the situation in Norway is an interesting and revealing sign that the US is now in an entirely different place, economically, at least, and probably in many more ways than just that.