Viking Economics (31 page)

139.
In 2015, the IRS pursued more than one thousand “transfer pricing” cases: corporations accused of transferring income away from higher-tax U.S. operating units to tax-protected affiliates, hoping to collect up to $194 billion in unpaid taxes.
These include Apple ($16.3 billion), Vanguard Group ($34.6 billion), and Amazon ($1.5 billion). The numbers are estimates. Joseph N. Distefano, “The IRS’s Intensifying Fight Over Income Taxes,”
Philadelphia Inquirer
, November 1, 2015, p. E1.

140.
Chafkin, op. cit.

141.
Jeffrey D. Sachs, “The Social Welfare State, beyond Ideology.”
Scientific American
, November 1, 2006. Norwegian writer Asbjørn Wahl cites another study, of OECD countries, that comes to the same conclusion in comparing national tax policies and economic and social outcomes. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives compared high-tax and low-tax countries on the basis of social and economic indicators. Among other things, the study found productivity (GNP per hour worked) was higher in the high-tax states. Brooks, N. and Hwong, T. (2006).
The Social Benefits and Economic Costs of Taxation
. Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
www.policyalternatives.ca/documents/National_Office_Pubs/2006/Benefits_and_Costs_of_Taxation.pdf
. Wahl, Asbjørn (2011).
The Rise and Fall of the Welfare State
. London: Pluto Press, p. 6.

142.
Brooks, N., and Hwong, T. (2006).
The Social Benefits and Economic Costs of Taxation
. Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. <
www.policyalternatives.ca/documents/National_Office_Pubs/2006/Benefits_and_Costs_of_Taxation.pdf
>. Quoted extensively by Wahl, Asbjørn, 2011.
The Rise and Fall of the Welfare State
. London: Pluto Press. The productivity citation is on p. 7.

Chapter 12: Allowing Racial and Other Differences to Work for the Common Good

143.
August 28, 2011. Cited by Felice Blake in her article “Black in Norway,” Al Jazeera.com, August 20, 2011.
www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/08/201182984256236502.html
(accessed August 8, 2014).

144.
Eriksen, Thomas Hylland. 2013.
Immigration and National Identity in Norway
. Washington, D.C.: Migration Policy Institute, p. 12.

145.
“Manifestation of hidden discrimination and everyday prejudice toward immigrants in Iceland,” 2013, Guðrún Pétursdóttir.
InterCultural Ísland
.
www.ici.is/assets/Everyday_discrimination_in_Iceland.pdf
(accessed February 4, 2014).

146.
Aftenposten
, the major national newspaper of Norway. July 10, 2012.

147.
Eriksen, Thomas Hylland. 2013.
Immigration and National Identity in Norway
. Washington, D.C.: Migration Policy Institute, p. 12. See also his book
Paradoxes of Cultural Recognition
, coedited with Sharam Alghasi and Halleh Ghorashi, Ashgate Publishers (now Routledge/Taylor & Francis), 2009.

148.
The letter, dated February 3, 2006, was published on the UK blog of the Institute for Race Relations.
www.irr.org.uk/news/we-are-very-close-to-violence/
(accessed August 8, 2014).

149.
Bo Lidegaard, “Denmark’s Far-Right Kingmakers,”
The New York Times
, June 21, 2015.

150.
Halvard Buhaug, Kristian Skrede Gleditsch, Helge Holtermann, Gudrun Østby, Andreas Forø Tollefsen, “It’s the Local Economy, Stupid! Geographic Wealth Dispersion and Conflict Outbreak Location.”
The Journal of Conflict Resolution
, October 2011, vol. 55, no. 5.
jcr.sagepub.com/content/55/5/814.abstract
(accessed August 9, 2014).

151.
OECD, “Divided We Stand: Why Inequality Keeps Rising.” 2011.
www.oecd.org/els/soc/49499779.pdf
(accessed August 9, 2014). Sweden still remains far more equal than most countries.

152.
Richard Orange, “Swedish riots spark surprise and anger: As
inequality and segregation start to rise, the spread of youth disorder has shaken ethnic Swedes and older immigrants alike.”
The Observer
, May 25, 2013.
www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/25/sweden-europe-news
(accessed August 9, 2014).

153.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Stockholm_riots
(accessed August 9, 2014).

154.
May 25, 2013.
www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/25/sweden-europe-news
(accessed August 9, 2014).

155.
Liam McLaughlin, “The Swedish riots: What really happened? Inequality, not immigration, was what sparked the unrest.” New Statesman, 14 June 2013.
www.newstatesman.com/economics/2013/06/swedish-riots-what-really-happened
(accessed August 9, 2014).

156.
www.mynewsdesk.com/uk/expo/pressreleases/tag/expo-foundation
(accessed August 8, 2014). The website contains Expo Foundation’s white supremacy reports; the quote is from its press release dated May 13, 2011. The famous author Stieg Larsson was editor of the foundation’s magazine,
Expo
.

157.
Ylva Nilsson, “Immigration not a topic for Swedish mainstream parties,” online periodical
EU Observer
, May 6, 2014.
euobserver.com/eu-elections/124013
(accessed August 29, 2015).

158.
blogs.helsinki.fi/ije4d-journal/files/2012/11/IJE4D-Vol.-1-article-21.pdf
.

159.
Mats Persson, “If EU Migration Is the Problem, Switzerland and Norway Are Not the Answer.”
The Telegraph
, September 12, 2015.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/11190269/If-EU-migration-is-the-problem-Switzerland-and-Norway-are-not-the-answer.html
(accessed January 13, 2016).

160.
As I noted in the chapter on education, generous public support in the Nordic model to all things cultural supports the respect for ethnic Norwegian cultural identity, along with other identities, that is reflected through dance and music. The disestablishment of the state Lutheran Church while taxes continue to maintain church buildings—and mosques—again creates a universal solution consistent with the model’s principles.

161.
www.minorityrights.org/1499/norway/sami.html. On website of World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples (accessed August 11, 2014).

162.
Anders Ekeland (2011).

163.
Eriksen, Thomas Hylland. 2013.
Immigration and National Identity in Norway
. Washington, D.C.: Migration Policy Institute, p. 5.

164.
Anders Ekeland (2011). “Stabil yrkesdeltakelse og ledighet” [Stable workforce participation and unemployment rates] (in Norwegian). “Tabell:05111: Personer i alderen 15–74 år, etter kjønn, arbeidsstyrkestatus og alder” [Persons aged 15–74, by gender, workforce status and age] (in Norwegian). Statistics Norway (accessed August 11, 2014).

165.
Eriksen, Thomas Hylland. 2013.
Immigration and National Identity in Norway
. Washington, D.C.: Migration Policy Institute, p. 1.

166.
“Vi er alle rystet av ordskapen,” Aftenposten. Quoted in Wikipedia article, “2011 Norway attacks.”
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Norway_attacks
(accessed August 14, 2014).

167.
“Amid Tears, Flickering Candles and Flowers, a Shaken Norway Mourns.” July 24, 2011.
www.nytimes.com/2011/07/25/world/europe/25oslo.html
(accessed August 11, 2014).

168.
Batty, David; Godfrey, Hannah, “Norway attacks: Sunday 24 July rolling coverage: 1.13pm,”
The Guardian
. Quoted in Wikipedia,
“2011 Norway Attacks.” “Vi er alle rystet av ordskapen,”
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Norway_attacks
(accessed August 14, 2014).

169.
Svensson, Olof and Josefin Karlsson. “Hela Norden hedrade offren med tyst minut.”
Aftonbladet
(Sweden), July 25, 2011. Quoted in Wikipedia article, “2011 Norway attacks.”
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Norway_attacks
(accessed August 14, 2014).

170.
“More than 200,000 mourn in downtown Oslo.”
Verdens Gang
(Norway). July 25, 2011. Quoted in Wikipedia article, “2011 Norway attacks.”
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Norway_attacks
(accessed August 14, 2014).

171.
“Norway’s Premier Vows to Keep an Open Society,” by Michael Schwirtz,
The New York Times
, July 27, 2011.
www.nytimes.com/2011/07/28/world/europe/28norway.html
(accessed August 11, 2014).

172.
“Young Survivors Find Their Faith in Norway’s System Is Even Stronger,” by Matthew Saltmarsh, July 27, 2011.
www.nytimes.com/2011/07/28/world/europe/28iht-youth28.html
(accessed August 11, 2014).

173.
“Glenn Beck sammenligner AUF med Hitlerjugend,”
Bergens Tidende
, 26 July 2011.

174.
“Letters: Norway and the Vengeance Factor.” August 2, 2011. Quoted in Wikipedia article, “2011 Norway attacks.”
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Norway_attacks
(accessed August 14, 2014).
www.nytimes.com/2011/08/03/opinion/norway-and-the-vengeance-factor.html
(accessed August 11, 2014).

175.
The Foreigner
, August 9, 2014.
theforeigner.no/pages/news/norways-new-immigration-and-asylum-policies/
(accessed August 9, 2014).

Chapter 13:
Reaching for High Goals on Climate Change

176.
www.sierraclub.org/sierra/2015-1-january-february/feature/leading-edge
(accessed August 25, 2015).

177.
inhabitat.com/norway-to-build-the-worlds-largest-wind-turbine/
. Once it’s in place, they want to make more of them offshore. “Norwegian oil and gas champion StatoilHydro (NYSE:STO) has teamed up with German infrastructure giant Siemens (NY-SE:SI) to build the first floating wind turbines for deep-water use. With centers of gravity deep below the surface and moorings tied to the seabed, these rigs would go farther offshore than any pylon-based wind turbine could. The first application for such a far-flung power generation system would actually be to help power oil and gas rigs that sit atop the North Sea’s dwindling petroleum reserves”—
www.greenchipstocks.com/articles/norway-wind-power-law/440
. Already wind power plays a role in Norway: “The Smøla wind park was built in two steps that opened in September 2002 and September 2005, respectively. It has 68 wind turbines producing 450 GWh of electricity per year. It is the largest land-based wind generating facility in Europe”—Liana Müler in “Wind Power in Norway: Innovation Strategy”
www.iet.ntnu.no/~ralf/muller/pubs/wind.pdf
. This wind-farm provides power for nearly 25,000 households.

178.
www.sierraclub.org/sierra/2015-1-january-february/feature/leading-edge
.

179.
Mike Corder, “Court orders Dutch to do more on climate,”
Philadelphia Inquirer
, June 25, 2015, A8.

180.
Elizabeth Kolbert, “The Weight of the World,”
The New Yorker
, August 24, 2015, p. 28.

181.
www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/22/denmark-happiest-country_n_4070761.html
.

182.
Denmark’s lead representative in the negotiations was the late Svend Auken, known as “the father of Danish climate energy policy.” Auken was one of the few Danish politicians ever to be honored in the U.S. House of Representatives. A leading Social Democrat, he was a member of
Folketinget
(Parliament) for thirty-eight years and minister for environment and energy from 1994 to 2001.

183.
Norway’s government in 2013 estimated the remaining reserves of the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) equivalent to 84 billion barrels of oil.

184.
www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/may/19/karl-ove-knausgaard-condemns-norways-arctic-oil-drill-plans
(accessed September 28, 2015).

185.
Before Brundtland came Arne Naess, who attracted an international following with his teaching of deep ecology. Naess was a philosophy professor at the University of Oslo known for his mountain climbing and pacifism. When a student in Oslo I met him and read his study of Gandhi; years later, I would hear that he’d been arrested for protesting the development of a hydroelectric dam in his beloved mountains.

186.
Critics say that saving rain forests elsewhere takes Norway off the hook for reducing its own emissions, but the Ministry of the Environment responds by saying that “efforts to reduce these emissions must be additional to and not a replacement for efforts by developed economies to reduce their emissions.”

187.
www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/16/norways-sovereign-wealth-fund-drops-over-50-coal-companies
.

188.
350.org, in a broadcast e-mail May 28, 2015.

189.
unepfi.org/pdc/
(accessed January 15, 2016).

190.
www.worldwatch.org/node/6039
.

191.
“Swedish City Recognized for Efforts to Support Sustainable
Communities,” WorldWatch Institute online newsletter (accessed July 23, 2014).

192.
www.pri.org/stories/2014-10-21/big-companies-are-pulling-plug-their-projects-albertas-tar-sands
(accessed August 8, 2015).

193.
news.mongabay.com/2015/02/norway-sovereign-fund-drops-coal-tar-sands-gold-mining-companies/
(accessed August 8, 2015).

194.
www.treehugger.com/cars/cheapest-new-cars-in-norway-are-electric.html
.

Chapter 14: How Relevant Is the Nordic Model to the United States?

195.
“All Things Considered,” National Public Radio, September 25, 2009.

196.
Peace Corps members are paid a small stipend but many other programs are not. Another pioneer was Service Civile Internationale, founded by Pierre Ceresole in Switzerland.

197.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_transport#History
.

198.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_library#Modern_public_libraries
.

199.
Wikipedia entry.