Rain means power!

The rain is back and falling soakingly as I write. Yesterday we had so much heavy cloud we couldn’t see the mountains across Lundegaardsvatten for most of the day! However, we cannot complain. The west coast has had what might be termed as drought conditions for the past 6 weeks! The weather has been dry and sunny, with hardly a cloud in sight (apart from a couple of days of snow). It has been cold for the time of year with temperatures rarely getting above 5 degrees, but I for one was certainly not complaining!

However, when you are used to lots of rain, you soon notice when there is next to nothing! The people who have noticed it most I would say are the electric companies. Norway gets all of its electricity from water power. Throughout the mountains you will see some discreet and some not so discreet plants, channelling the water energy into hydroelectric power. Many plants sit at the bottom of massive waterfalls, or on fast flowing streams and ravines. All, of course, are dependent on being fed by inches and inches of rain.

There was talk a while back of raising electricity prices, and even buying back some of our electricity from Sweden, but as far as I know it hasn’t happened yet. That is the problem when you are dependent upon ‘green’ products. Sometimes Mother Nature does not comply with requirements!

There is a focus here on building small local plants to feed into the national grid, and you do see quite a few. However, according to the International Energy Agency, Norway, along with other countries who have hydro potential, are not doing as well at harnessing it as they could. The main reason appears to be cost. Despite the tax breaks – yes on the tax form it asks whether you own a power station or power lines. Apparently you can get a 5% deduction on the book rated value each year. It is probably a fair sum considering the price of building a power station – and maintaining it. However, you still have to pay wealth tax on the power station and lines, as well as income tax on whatever you manage to sell to the grid, so I can imagine that at the end of the day owning a power station is not exactly a licence to print money!

Formueskat: In Norway, the Government levies a wealth tax on a taxpayers personal property, i.e. house, cabin and boat (minus mortgage/loan), bank deposits, shares and savings at 1.1% over NOK750,000 (double for a couple). Only Norway, France, Iceland. Lichtenstein and Switzerland have wealth taxes of this kind. Not even the (ex) communist countries seem willing to stoop as low as to tax the value of something you have bought (with the help of the bank) and are paying for with money on which you have already paid tax! It is a double taxation, and although it is only 1.1% it must irritate a lot of people. It must also become difficult for retired people to keep the standard of living they enjoyed whilst earning if their pension is not enough to pay the wealth tax on top of all their other bills.

Should you study for a job or for fun?

Why go to university? Well, apparently that is a question that needs answering according to a survey undertaken by Studentum a pan-Scandinavian internet site for students here in the north, published today in Bergens Tidende. I always thought you studied at university level in order to improve on your education, which in turn would get you a better job and salary. Apparently though this viewpoint is a little old fashioned!

According to answers given by Norwegian and Danish students, you study because the subject interests you. There is absolutely no correlation between the subjects studied and job opportunities. Of course, Norway is one of the few countries in Europe which enjoys almost full employment. No matter what happens, you are basically ensured a job when you decide you actually want to knuckle down and get one (university education here is free, and you can take as many degrees as you like). However, it does mean that there are probably a huge number of psychology, history of art and social anthropology students out there who are working in offices doing jobs which have absolutely nothing to do with their university qualifications.

Unfortunately the study does not look at graduates and the jobs they are actually doing now – but I imagine it would make quite dreary reading for fired up 18 year olds who are adamant that their arts course is the best thing since sliced bread.

Apparently Swedish and Finnish students have a much more grounded attitude to university study. They see it as a stepping stone into the type of job they would like to have. Sounds logical! Maybe though it is more a reflection of the poorer job opportunities the students in Sweden and Finland have to look forward to.

Norwegian students are also at the bottom of the list when it comes to wanting a management job. Four out of five said that they would prefer not to be in the top posts at work! Swedes are much more ambitioius! Norway is a country where management by consensus is the cultural norm, which in essence means that unless everyone is agreed on a certain way of doing something nothing will be done. No decision will be agreed until consensus is achieved. Maybe that is why there are so few entrepreneurs here, and no-one wants to stick their neck out as a manager.

Does it mean that the system is producing students who are of less use to society, than those who have studied in order to achieve a certain career choice? Medical studies, law and engineering are all difficult fields to get into, even here and Norway certainly needs more of those types of graduate. If students though, are choosing to study more from a personal interest than a career choice point of view, they may have to rely even more on non-Norwegian expertise than they do today. With a population of just under 6 million, they probably do not have enough Norwegian students taking the right kinds of university courses to fulfil their future requirements in more specialist fields. I wonder how things will look in a few years time?