The most dangerous thing is to not do anything at all – Adresseavisen

Thursday let Jørn Rattsø and Productivity Commission presented the Committee’s second report. Productivity Commission points out that Norway in recent years have used the flood of oil revenues to expand public administration and welfare benefits. Of this, Norway should learn two things: Indiscriminate increase in oil lubricated monetary flood can not continue. Secondly, it is scary to assume that Norway will live in the future, will be just as profitable as oil and gas.

The theme is difficult to understand because it is not about the present day and because there are many and complex relationships. The challenges are difficult to handle because voters and politicians must make tough choices. But challenges Productivity Commission highlights, are no less intrusive in that they ignored. There is no favorite exercise for either red, blue, yellow or green politicians to talk about austerity and restructuring of complex nature. But it must be done.

It takes courage of the politician who will ensure more sober public spending, which will prioritize stricter, remove bureaucracy and that goes on to lay down old activities rather bet the new, to use some of Jørn Rattsø words. But it will require its also of the politicians who in the future will rule a country where no changes are made and where crisis is forcing emergency solutions.

Many of the state expenses come by themselves, long before the government and parliament have made their mark on the annual state budgets. Pensions, healthcare, education and the size of the bureaucracy are just some of the areas where decisions for one year will affect budgets and priorities for many decades. The aging turn soon into full swing. It lays claim to community resources and enforces priorities, regardless of what voters and politicians want.

Even after the fall in the price of oil, Norway has continued to adjust the exchange rate without it being a hard landing for the welfare state. But then stroke shift come now, it must be clear and it must have a broad political support.

It is much better that changes come as a result of political decisions, than that they are pushing forward because of the lack of hands, money and popular willingness to pay the taxes that becomes necessary to carry increasingly large burdens.