Bad News from Norway

Massive labor conflict postponed - for now

The public sector is enormous in Norway, and this year, various labor unions that represent public sector employees met the government in complex negotiations about pension plans, work conditions, and of course wage raises. As Elin Ørjasæter points out, this becomes a matter of allocation rather than generosity. Most of the thorny issues are postponed until next year, when - presumably - expectations will be higher from everyone.

Meanwhile, it seems that the union for "those educated at a university level" (UNIO) is determined to strike, anyway, though nobody thinks they'll get anywhere with it.

Oslo stock market the most volatile in Europe

During the volatility in stock markets the last few days, the Oslo stock exchange has turned out to be the most volatile of all. While the DJIA went up 1.45%, the Oslo index dropped 2.6%, and the DJEurostock index went down 0.31%. Analysts in Oslo say that the market is dominated by fear and greed.

Norwegian municipalities and fiscal recklessness

At least eight Norwegian municipalities have, through a decision-making process that remains unclear, decided to make money by making leveraged bets in hedge funds. Two salesguys at Terra Securities apparantly convinced these municipalities to borrow money and place the proceeds in funds that specialize in American municipal bonds. The fund is tanking, and the municipalities stand to lose hundreds of millions of Norwegian kroners in the process. The ministry of finance is not inclined to bail them out, but since municipalities receive block grants, it's hard to see how the ministry is just going to let them miss payroll for school teachers, old age homes, etc. Mutual recriminations are flying, and Terra Securities has meanwhile lost its licenses to trade, only to immediately declare bankruptcy; Citigroup, who manages the fund, has decided to close it.

Norwegian government giving up on poverty - at least for now

The current "red-green" coalition consisting of the radical left, social democrats, and agrarians found a common platform several years ago in the so-called "Soria Moria declaration" that among other things promised that poverty - as it is - would be abolished in Norway during their tenure.

Yesterday, the labor minister Bjarne Håkon Hanssen admitted that this was not going to happen. All he could say was that he "believed" there are fewer poor people in Norway now than before. The solution appears to be a set of programs that either put people to work or put them on long-term disability benefits.

Non-Western immigrants face tough labor market

The labor market is improving for all sectors of job seekers in Norway, except for non-Western immigrants and especially Africans. The unemployment rate in Norway is 1.7 percent, but only for individuals who don't have dark skin.