Abstract

The casual visitor to Oslo, with little or no knowledge of Norway's recent history, could be forgiven for being unaware that per capita this is one of the wealthiest nations in the world. With its predominantly nineteenth-century streetscapes and the absence of large or monumental buildings, there is in fact little evidence, except for the recently built opera house on the harbour, that Oslo is the capital of a nation with the world's largest future fund. The latter, with assets worth 185 per cent of the country's GDP, was built on rates of taxes on petroleum resources, that in some instances, were as high as eighty-five per cent.