Norwegian Oil Fund vs Westminster Idiocy - Newsnight Scotland 25/10/10

In 1990 Norway - a hydrocarbon-rich, small, independent European country - decided to start saving the proceeds from oil revenue in a sovereign wealth fund. Today that fund owns 1% of all shares on all global stock markets, and is worth $512 BILLION, forecast to rise to $765 BILLION by 2014. The current political debate in Norway is about what percentage of the fund returns should be spent in the short to medium term without overheating the economy.

Meanwhile, Westminster spent our oil and gas revenues on Trident, war crimes, PFI payments, crooked bankers, plus the usual corruption, and now debates how much to slash and burn public spending.

If you're still wondering about the relevance of this to Scotland, ask a grown-up.