Thanks Markus! I am still in the research phase, to try to pull together the threads defining the economic development of modern Norway.

Basically my motivation has been driven by all the discrediting of social demcoracy I have seen in Anglo-Saxon media. Conservative think tanks like the Heritage foundation try to push a narrative about how Nordic countries built their wealth exclusively through capitalist principles with a few welfare services slapped on top.

The inspiration came from many American libertarians insisting that socialist policies only came into play in the late 1970s in Nordic countries and then promptly caused economic crash so that good old capitalism came back and save the day.

That is not a very truthful depiction of reality, and I think most Norwegians who know the stories from their parents about Norway back in the time, know how heavily managed Norwegian economy was under Einar Gerhardsen. I am not even suggesting that it was a good thing. Maybe it was bad. But the fact of the matter was that Norway had the strongest growth ever under Gerhadsen and those years lay the foundation for Norwegian prosperity.

It has then been very surprising for me to encounter so many American libertarians insisting that postwar Norway was some kind of Laissez-faire capitalism. That just seems like such an utter joke to any Norwegian. I mean I am sure you know about how you had to apply to buy a car, telephone etc back in the day.

The next challenge will be to chart the history of the Norwegian welfare system, tax levels etc from 1945 to present day.