Classic Government
This is just so typical. In response to demands for transparency, the Norwegian government starts publishing ... tons of private data about its citizens. I wonder how much detail they put online about how the government spends the tax money? Via maggies farm.
Mesa Econoguy:
The story does mention that this report contains data from members of the committee who gave Obamalini the Nobel – though it’s unclear whether it includes “side transactions†like bribes from Rahm Emanuel.
October 25, 2009, 9:42 amKirk:
Actually, they are transparent there, too. http://www.statsbudsjettet.dep.no/Statsbudsjettet-2009/
I hate them publishing the tax data, but the govt here is reasonably transparent and free of corruption.
October 25, 2009, 10:43 amDr. T:
The Norwegian government isn't corrupt, it just lacks ethics. Norwegians and Swedes may believe that everyone should know what everyone else earns, but most of us believe that our wages are private matters between us and our employers.
October 25, 2009, 5:45 pmArtD0dger:
I especially enjoyed this tidbit:
[Members of the royal family are not on the list because they don't pay taxes. ]
Ah, that distinctly Scandinavian custom of egalitarianism.
October 25, 2009, 6:14 pmPol:
The discussion is every year the same in Norway, but as long as there is a left government here nothing will change. In the meantime (very) rich people get blackmailed by criminals, children get teased at school because their parents are not as rich as other people and millions of poor people lose their self-esteem and get depressed in October since there is always a neighbor that earns more than they do.
October 26, 2009, 3:19 pmMethinks:
If this ever happens here, I guess the likes of Geithner and Rangel can breath a sigh of relief. Like the Norwegian royal family, they don't pay taxes.
October 27, 2009, 11:14 am