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Unions

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heh :)

I'll admit to not being too knowledgeable on this front, but as an entrepreneur that likes to remain nimble, I shudder at the idea of any bureaucracy.

Ive always thought that unions and capitalism do not go together. However, Elon is smart and I have faith in his decision making when it comes to this, perhaps the relationship would be structured in such a way where it would become an advantage to Tesla Motors.
 
Unions are also a major reason why so many ordinary middle-class Norwegians both want a Model S and can afford one.

The primary reason Norwegian GDP per capita is twice that of other Scandinavian countries would be North Sea Oil.

Export revenues from oil and gas have risen to almost 50% of total exports and constitute more than 20% of Norwegian GDP. Norway is the fifth-largest oil exporter and third-largest gas exporter in the world. But has a population of only 5.1M.

What is essentially free electricity from dams that makes up 96% if Norwegian demand also does not hurt.
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Unions are one reason I drive a Toyota pick-up instead of a GM, Ford, Dodge.
Ive always thought that unions and capitalism do not go together. /…
<sarcasm> Yes! All together now: We must continue to oppose all peoples’ right to freely organize! </sarcasm>


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The primary reason Norwegian GDP per capita is twice that of other Scandinavian countries would be North Sea Oil. /...
GDP per capita doesn’t say diddly squat about income equality.


Edit: So it seems I was unaware of what seems to be a vital difference in employer & (unionized) employee relations that exists in the US on one hand, and Sweden on the other. See post #77 down thread. So I guess I have no other choice than to remain neutral on the topic of unions i the US until I have fully understood the differences…
 
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Ive always thought that unions and capitalism do not go together. However, Elon is smart and I have faith in his decision making when it comes to this, perhaps the relationship would be structured in such a way where it would become an advantage to Tesla Motors.

Unions and capitalism absolutely go together. A union is just a company that has a different perspective on profit to other companies.

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It does say how much income there is to equalize.

If not for North Sea Oil, Norway would have ~$50K per capita to equalize much like Sweden and the USA that also have Unions.

But a far smaller percentage would be able to afford a Model S.

The USA also has and had lots of natural resources. It just chose a different way to exploit them.
 
It does say how much income there is to equalize.

If not for North Sea Oil, Norway would have ~$50K per capita to equalize much like Sweden and the USA that also have Unions.

But a far smaller percentage would be able to afford a Model S.
Educative tidbits of the day:

Statoil ASA, (OSE: STL) …

As of 2013, the Government of Norway is the largest shareholder in Statoil with 67% of the shares … The ownership interest is managed by the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy. …

Statoil is the largest operator on the Norwegian continental shelf, with 60% of the total production.

In addition to the Norwegian continental shelf, Statoil operates oil and gas fields in Australia, Algeria,Angola, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Canada, China, Libya, Nigeria, Russia, United States, and Venezuela. Statoil has offices that are looking for possible ventures in the countries of Mexico, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The company has processing plants in Belgium, Denmark, France, and Germany. …

Source: Statoil - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Government Pension Fund of Norway

The Government Pension Fund of Norway comprises two entirely separate sovereign wealth funds owned by the Government of Norway:

• The Government Pension Fund – Global (formerly The Government Petroleum Fund)
• The Government Pension Fund – Norway (formerly The National Insurance Scheme Fund) …

The Government Pension Fund – Global (Norwegian: Statens pensjonsfond – Utland, SPU) is a fund into which the surplus wealth produced by Norwegian petroleum income is deposited. The fund changed name in January 2006 from its previous name, The Petroleum Fund of Norway. The fund is commonly referred to as The Oil Fund (Norwegian: Oljefondet). As of the valuation in June 2011, it was the largest pension fund in the world, although it is not actually a pension fund as it derives its financial backing from oil profits and not pension contributions. As of September 30th 2013 its total value is NOK 4.714 trillion[1] ($783.3 billion), holding one percent of global equity markets.[2] With 1.78 percent of European stocks,[2] it is said to be the largest stock owner in Europé. …

Source: The Government Pension Fund of Norway - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
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So how do the people of Norway currently get their hands on the oil money?

There are all kinds of fees and taxes and indirect ways oil money supports current Norwegian government speding.

The pension contributions that Americans and Swedes must pay that are not paid by Norwegians.

The interest Americans and Swedes pay on government borrowing that is not done in Norway because of the oil money.
and the credit rating as a direct result of the oil money.

The difference in standard of living between Norway and Sweden, and indirectly the Middle Class's ability to purchase a Model S is not because Norwegian bureaucrats and Union bosses are so much more brilliant at managing the economy than American and Swedish ones. The source is the oil money.
 
According to your own previous post, it's saving individuals gobs of money in taxes. It's paying for your pensions, and supporting government programs.
I don’t know. But the way the media paints it in Sweden is that most of the money stays in the ‘oil fund’. Rob argues that the relative income equality in Norway is due to something else than unions. I don’t see how he can make a claim that it’s not at least in large parts due to unions.


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It does say how much income there is to equalize.

If not for North Sea Oil, Norway would have ~$50K per capita to equalize much like Sweden and the USA that also have Unions [My underline].

But a far smaller percentage would be able to afford a Model S.
The degree of unionization in Sweden was ~68% the first quarter 2012. What was the degree of unionization at that point in time in the US?

Source: LO - Högre organisationsgrad (in Swedish)


Edit: So it seems I was unaware of what seems to be a vital difference in employer & (unionized) employee relations that exists in the US on one hand, and Sweden on the other. See post #77 down thread. So I guess I have no other choice than to remain neutral on the topic of unions in the US until I have fully understood the differences…
 
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I don’t know. But the way the media paints it in Sweden is that most of the money stays in the ‘oil fund’. Rob argues that the relative income equality in Norway is due to something else than unions. I don’t see how he can make a claim that it’s not at least in large parts due to unions.

So your contention is the difference between Norway's $100k per capita standard of living and Sweden's ~$53k per capita standard of living is that Norwegians are just that much smarter than Swedes at organizing themselves since workers vote for union leadership and voters elect political leaders.
 
There are all kinds of fees and taxes and indirect ways oil money supports current Norwegian government speding.

The pension contributions that Americans and Swedes must pay that are not paid by Norwegians.

The interest Americans and Swedes pay on government borrowing that is not done in Norway because of the oil money.
and the credit rating as a direct result of the oil money.

The difference in standard of living between Norway and Sweden, and indirectly the Middle Class's ability to purchase a Model S is not because Norwegian bureaucrats and Union bosses are so much more brilliant at managing the economy than American and Swedish ones. The source is the oil money.

I think you're missing his point completely. He's not arguing that the oil doesn't provide wealth, but that Norway's approach to the oil helps promote wealth and income equality since Norway both encourages domestic efficiency and retains the profits in a long-term investment fund. It's easy to contrast that with policies in other nations that subsidize inefficiency, privatize or take a laissez-faire approach to energy.
 
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I don’t know. But the way the media paints it in Sweden is that most of the money stays in the ‘oil fund’. Rob argues that the relative income equality in Norway is due to something else than unions. I don’t see how he can make a claim that it’s not at least in large parts due to unions.

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The degree of unionization in Sweden was ~68% the first quarter 2012. What was the degree of unionization at that point in time in the US?

Source: LO - Högre organisationsgrad (in Swedish)

America has Three Independent Auto Makers.

How many does Sweden have?