Australia's and Norway's economy is no doubt the best performing developed economies during the financial crisis, Australia didn't fall into a recession at all. Whilst USA GDP growth went backwards 2%, Australian economic growth slowed to 1%, Australia's government budget will return to a surplus in 2012, faster than any developed economy in the world. http://www.budget.gov.au/2010-11/content/at_a_glance/html/at_a_glance.htm Australia's debt is expected to peak at 6.1% of GDP (source above). Whilst in the USA it will surpass 100% of GDP.    http://www.bloomberg.com.au/apps/news?pid=20601010&sid=aa0cI64Gx.4E Australia's run under the Australian Labour Party which calls itself democratic socialist in the party constitution but it is more comparable to a social democratic ideology. US Gdp growth is projected to be 1.5% this year, and in Australia it's surging to 8.7% annualised growth this year, which is an amazing growth rate, and extraordinary for a developed economy.    http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-business/australias-economic-growth-surges-20100526-wc7o.html Australia's stimulus package performed well because the government just gave all the workers $900 to keep spending and $1000 to pensioners. And raising mining tax to 40% of profit. Which is almost nationalization in a sense except more efficient. The Australian governments idea behind that is that all Australians own our resources, therefore we should all benefit from mining companies taking our resources. But I think Australia should strive to Norways example of successful socialism, its the second richest country in the world after Luxembourg in both PPP and Nominal GDP.    http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/norways-success-in-socialism-has-me-turning-red-with-envy/1546561/ "Norways success in socialism has me turning red with envy". "Is Norway a shining example Marx was right? As Capitalist economies collapse and unemployment reaches new levels, there remains the case of Norway which is based on socialist principles and endured the economic crisis without encountering the problems of capitalism."    http://theimpudentobserver.com/world-news/is-socialist-norway-a-shining-example-marx-was-right/ Why Norway Wins (WARNING: SOCIALISM!) http://trueslant.com/zachdundas/2010/03/01/why-norway-wins-warning-socialism/ Socialism in Norway WORKS, Im not talking about the USSR kind of Socialism, but the democratic socialism/social democracy. The more Australia is like Norway, the better, why look to the USA for inspiration? "I know, look at Greece" Greece's Socialist government was elected only at the end of last year. The problems in their economy was because of the previous right wing government, that's why the socialist party got elected in a landslide. @"yea, and Cuba is like a paradise" Cuba is run under an authoritan dictatorship, Cuba is a failure and doesn't even fit into the definition of socialism due to the lack of freedoms and democracy. Calling Cuba or China socialist goes against the very definition of it.
Politics - 13 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
Along with the 2 examples you give, you have countries like Sweden, Denmark, Finland and The Netherlands as nations that all practise social democracy. They all feature highly on the human development index. Sadly, a lot of close minded people think like this: SOCIALISM = COMMUNISM = BAAAAAD.
2 :
America farts and Norway runs to the hills. America is your source silly girl. You could not defend yourself from a group of drunk german soccer fans. Blah Blah Blah.
3 :
I know, look at Greece That crap only has a shot if you control immigration. If you let millions of freeloaders in uninvited, it doesn't work
4 :
Norway has no blacks. Norway has no Mexicans. Norway has essentially no Muslims. It is a different situation.
5 :
All countries "strive for success" but each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Take the USA, you would have a hard time converting them from a huge military which costs a fortune, into taking care of the sick instead. See the idiots above as an example
6 :
A few years ago Norway had the highest growth in health care spending in the world and were facing future unsustainability? did they fix that?
7 :
Examples: Greece-Bankrupt Hungary- on the verge of bankruptcy U.K.- on the threshold of bankruptcy France- contemplating reforming their social programs because of lack of financing. Look to the U.S.A. because of capitalism and capitalism will survive and eventually pull through. Face it, socialism is an economic disaster. You want my money to pay for your college, your health insurance, your maternity leave or you want 30% of my paycheck for social security you're going to have to pry that money from my cold dead fingers.
8 :
yea, and Cuba is like a paradise
9 :
How many Aborigines are working today, you fool . You find something on the internet and make it sound and fit into our or western type economies. You need to look at the whole structure of the country . Down under and toe head country are two different beast.
10 :
There is one glaring difference. Those countries don't have a permanent underclass/minority interest to cater to. You add a group of leaches to there system and it will implode like ever other with parasites.
11 :
Norway is FAR from perfect, Sweetheart, and it has its share of "Unseen Problems" : Four years ago, it promised to act as a "peace nation" to support a "more democratic world order" and human rights. Yet socialist-led Norway – still living on its benign image abroad – has instead become the home of four dirty little secrets. The first concerns the government's pension fund, which invests its huge oil income in more than 7,500 companies in 46 countries and is worth about £250bn. Regarded by many as a model of ethical investment, its portfolio is more like a dirty list of the world's worst corporations, including numerous oil, mining and agribusiness corporations criticised for their human rights record and environmental impacts. The fund also invests in half a dozen tax havens. The government has so far excluded only a handful of companies from the fund on ethical grounds. Even worse is policy on oil. Norway is the world's third largest exporter of oil and gas, which provide more than a third of government revenues. Last year, when the doubling of world oil prices plunged millions of people in developing countries into poverty, oil revenues boosted government coffers by 17 times the value of Norway's overseas aid. StatoilHydro, 67% owned by the government, operates in several countries accused of corruption and dire human rights records, such as Azerbaijan, Angola, Iran and Nigeria, and is eyeing up Iraq. Ministers have been speaking openly about reorienting Norwegian diplomacy to push into new oil markets such as Saudi Arabia. On the environment, Norway's benign image is also removed from reality. True, nearly all domestic electricity comes from hydroelectric plants and Norway was one of the first to adopt a carbon tax to address global warming, in 1991. Yet with 0.1% of the world's population, Norway emits 0.3% of greenhouse gas emissions; if oil exports are included, the figure may be about 2%. The government is committed to making Norway carbon neutral by 2050, yet this will partly be achieved by buying carbon reductions in other countries, not reducing to zero Norway's own emissions. Finally, Norwegian arms exports – little known outside the country – are booming. Although amounting to 0.1 per cent of world arms exports, Norway's weapons sales have tripled since 2000, reaching £336m worth in 2007. Norway has lost its ethical niche. Although it has a large aid programme and strongly supports the UN, it has otherwise joined the club of rich nations exploiting the planet for their own benefit. The leitmotif in its unethical policies is the failure to summon up the courage to regulate corporations, whether in oil, arms or finance. Unless governments do this, hopes of an ethical foreign policy will remain a mirage.
12 :
Norway is the world’s fifth largest oil exporter. It has a population of about 4.8 million making it one of the most sparsely populated countries in Europe. Do the math. less than five million people enjoying one fifth of the world's oil wealth. In essence, Norway is the Kuwait of Europe. Massive oil and gas reserves is the cause of high living standard in Norway, not Socialism. You realize that in Kuwait, no Kuwaiti actually works, right? They have so much wealth that all menial jobs are performed by immigrants. You pull into a gas station in Kuwait and the gasoline is free. But all these two examples prove is that tiny countries with a lot of petroleum to sell can get by quite nicely on the labor of everyone else. What would become of their society if some alternative form of energy makes petroleum obsolete? All your example really illustrates is that any Socialist government must have other Capitalist Governments to sponge off or they would be unsustainable. The Problem with Greece is that they have too many people receiving benefits and too few generating the revenue to fund them. This isn't rocket science. Socialism is nothing more than a system of rationing existing wealth until it is exhausted. In Norway, they have an enormous amount of wealth and a tiny population. In Greece they have long since squandered all of their wealth and have borrowed all anyone is willing to lend them. That is my point. Greece has no more wealth to redistribute. Enter the hard times Socialism always results in. *
13 :
So what do we need to do, import leftist from Norway and Australia? You led us to to the levy now why don't you go all the way and tell us how would this work in the US. I'd love to compare the expenditures to entitlements, which were created by liberals and are all now failing which is causing the economic problems were enjoying today. Norway I'm sure does not have 30 million undocumented people in there country who are not fully invested into the system, the un-invested money is sent back to Mexico as the countries 2nd largest import. Norway basically isolates itself from the rest of the world. They voted against joining the European Union and is almost self reliant on energy. The latest liberal tactic is alive in Greece as well. Blame the previous admin. Did they blame Bush too? Yes communism works at first, but its a breeding ground for corruption and exploitation. Its also great for people who need to be told what to do and don't have to think. If socialism is the cats meow, why is anything that is socialized in this country just short of a complete failure. As I said earlier. It always starts out as a good idea but fails under its own weight. Immigration is socialized and look at that debacle. There are more aliens in this country then the population of many European countries. You can't really judge a countries success until you actually live there. I wonder if you have any stories of a poor immigrant going to Norway and becoming Bill Gates??
