| The natural assets of a country are, in part, infinite – the sunshine, rain, wind or wave power. But others are finite, for example the coal that powered Britain’s industrial revolution and for a time made this country the workshop of the world. Another lucky beneficiary of oil and gas is Norway. But after a fierce debate, that country took an alternative approach and created a sovereign wealth fund to invest the proceeds from its resource.
In about 20 years, the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund has reached more than $800 billion (£500 billion) and gives the people of Norway an annual income of £20 billion to £25 billion. The fund now owns 1.3 per cent of the entire world’s listed companies. Because of the limits placed on annual distributions from the fund, there is every chance that it will operate for a long time into the future...............................................Full Article: Source
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