将軍 Shōgun🔺

Is the Norwegian people really free? In this comment I discuss the most important economic policies in Norway, how it affects the citizens and what the response from the the younger generation might be if we aren’t able to change the policies. Follow the instructions at the end of the comment and you might win a signed book 😊 Taxes and duties According to “Smarte Penger”, the normal level of share of wages that goes to taxes and fees is approximately 50 per cent for a single person. Monetary policy and banks The monetary policy stimulated the money supply M2 by an average 6.9% per year in the period 2002-2022. This quadrupled the amount of money in circulation. The direct effect was that it pushed down interest rates on loans and deposits. Cheap credit motivated the citizens to borrow beyond their means. As a result, Norwegian debtors have the highest debt-to-household-disposable-income-ratio in the OECD area (247%). Furthermore, most loans in Norway are based on floating interest rate, making the jump from 0 to 5,5% interest in less than two years enormously costly for the Norwegians. Currency devaluation The value of the Norwegian krone has plummeted the last 15 years. For instance, Norwegians today must pay more than twice as many NOK for USD compared to 2008. You get a perspective of how much this devaluation represents when you consider that the US also quadrupled its money supply in the period 2002 - 2022. Consumption - not saving The rapid fall in the value of our money made it pointless for Norwegians to save. Most people choose to spend the money. Home ownership It has been a long-standing policy that Norwegians should own their own home. The last few decades of increasing home prices have been fueled by cheap credit. Low interest rates made people talk themselves into believing that they save when they bought a large house to live in. However, this isn’t saving. On the contrary – owning a larger home than you need is the most expensive consumption of all. We are also gradually waking up to the realization that home ownership is a financial drag, as it becomes increasingly costly to maintain the house and pay the increasing property taxes. Conclusion Norwegian citizens aren't "free" in any economic sense of the word. We've basically let government, banks and home ownership enslave us. Furthermore, the money we keep after having paid the state, the banks and the costs of owning our homes is losing its value so fast that it makes no sense to save it for the next generation. The youth will force our hand Generation Z (people born 1995 - 2010) probably already understands that it can't afford all the goods and services that the boomers and Generation X took for granted - a big house, two cars and holidays abroad, much of it financed by a steady influx of artificially created money and cheap credit. It's only natural if the Zoomers begin to suspect that we might let them foot the bill. At one point they may realize that shunning the Norwegian krone and leaving the country is the only option if they want to have a good life and get the same opportunities as we were able to enjoy. And if the music hasn't stopped before, it will definitely stop then. *** Three followers (new and old) who like and share this comment can win a signed copy of the #Fraudcoinbook. The raffle ends Friday 30 June 8.00 PM, CET.