BBC Blog Network

User Profile

asamorgen

Listed below are comments made by asamorgen between Tuesday, 10th June 2008 and Sunday, 11th January 2009.

«Newer
Older»

Norway shuns EU herd 09:34am on 11 Jan 2009 Freeborn-john (73):
You are quite right that both the UK and Norway have strong industries in both Pharmaceuticals and Oil. Fundamental to the economy however is the distribution of wealth as I said before (69). You choose to ignore this because this makes Norway incomparable to the UK and doesn't suit your secessionist views. Unless you move on this point, our discussion will continue to go in circles.

ps, your request that I name a third country strikes me as slightly odd. If I name a pear, does it make the apple any more like the orange? If I name a third country, does it make the UK any more like Norway?...
Norway shuns EU herd 09:40am on 10 Jan 2009 Freeborn-john(32): Thanks for your comment on my comment again.

"Norway has one half of the North Sea; the UK has the other half."

Agreed!

"There is no country in the world more similar to Britain in terms of access to resources than our near neighbour Norway."

No - half the area does not translate to half the resources. The UK currently pumps a little more than half the oil that Norway does. As I've mentioned before, this wealth (through tax and other benefits) is distributed among a much larger population, so the oil per head of population is less than 20x that of Norway.

You say yourself in comment 8 that the "oil wealth means the people are very wealthy", and that beer in Oslo "is 7 pounds a pint", for example. I don't understand then why you suddenly decide to discard this and pretend that the economies are directly comparable, just because both countries share the north sea, or both have economies involving oil. Surely you see it's more complicated than that?

So to hold Norway up as an example of how the UK can go it alone, as you do, is misguided, since the UK would does not have the same access to resources per head of population that Norway does and the luxuries that are associated with that. I have respect for people on both sides of the debate, but you can not selectively choose your facts to suit your own prejudices.
Norway shuns EU herd 10:58am on 09 Jan 2009 Freebornjohn (16): I think you've mis-interpreted my comment. It's not about big or small countries like you suggest, but rather about resources. This is why resource-rich small-population Norway is not comparable to the UK, and has so-far opted to remain outside the EU.
Norway shuns EU herd 10:30pm on 08 Jan 2009 Freebornjohn (10) didn't mention that Norway and Switzerland have much smaller populations: around 5m and 8m respectively, compared to the UK's 65m. That means for example that Norway pumps over 20x the oil per person compared to the UK. Switzerland's banking and pharmaceutical industries also bring in substantially much more money per person than the UK. I think the last sentence written by Thrednodio (9) is quite correct.
Irish PM: 'No' would kill Lisbon 6:16pm on 10 Jun 2008 Re post 16, I agree with you in that there are many more options for the Irish than a simple "in" or "out" of the EU. But the time for that discussion has passed; the treaty has been debated and complex compromises struck. Now is the time to ratify it and move forward. This is why it is much more of an "in" or "out" question here.
Irish PM: 'No' would kill Lisbon 09:26am on 10 Jun 2008 If the Irish vote no, they should do the decent thing and withdraw from the union, allowing the EU to go ahead make the badly-needed reforms which are contained within the Lisbon treaty. We are all part of Europe, and you have to see the wider picture, not limited purely to national self-interest. Perhaps this view will prevail in the upcoming vote; it'll be interesting to watch the results.

«Newer
Older»

^ Back to top

BBC MMVI

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites

BBC.co.uk

BBC Blog Network

Find and talk to the BBC's bloggers.

User Profile

asamorgen