Fifth Argument: “Norway is Backed by Big Oil”
Writer says “a significant portion of Norway’s per capita GDP is based on oil revenues.” He doesn’t say how much, but it’s actually between 8–10%.
He then says “In other words, Norway is successful despite its government, not because of its government.”
This is a complete non sequitur. Every country’s economy is made up by various industries. You might as well say “Wisconsin has a lot of cheese, thus they are successful despite government intrusion.”
It’s interesting to note what Norway actually does with its oil money (short version: it all gets reinvested outside Norway; only 4% of it is actually spent by the state).
In any event, I’m not sure how sniping at Norway in particular represents any kind of win against Scandinavian economic policies.