Norge seen from USA.
(in English below). Når man ser på hvilken GDP Norge står for i forhold til stater i USA forstår man hvorfor Norge ofte er et av de siste landene man satser på når man som amerikansk selskap skal inn i Europa.
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PS: Takk til Atle som tipset meg om dette kartet.
Source: The York Group International, Inc.
When seeing Norway's GDP in the context of this map, one realizes why Norway often is one of the last countries U.S. companies consider when expanding to Europe.
Norway might be an unattractive market when considering expansion because the market is so small and as a result there is little domestic competition. This has enabled local players to build monopolies or duopolies with substantial entry-barriers in many industries. Furthermore, the government has sheltered the domestic market against international competition by adding a hefty import tax and inconvenient delivery methods on goods purchased outside the country, rendering international online merchants at a disadvantage when competing on price and convenience.
On the flip side, if you manage to establish your business here, you can overcharge your customers and get away with horrendous customer service. The average Norwegian customer is not used to good service and competitive prices. Online merchants are slow. Recently it took four weeks before I received a book shipped to me from a local merchant. On a recent trip I recently purchased shoes for our kids in the U.S. The selection was superior, and the price: 1/4th of what the local Norwegian merchant was charging.
On the other hand, we have managed to build world-leading clusters in energy (oil, hydro) and shipping. We have inexpensive good, engineers and one of the most advanced markets in the world for mobile content (i.e. ring-tones etc.), and we are six hours ahead of the U.S. East-Cost, making us a good place to farm out work; you leave instructions at 6pm EST and have the work finished at your desk in Manhattan the next morning at 9am. This would give a Norwegian developer or project worker ample time to finish a good days work.
Very interestesting. And it puts your own country in a new context, doesn't it? Norway -- probably as most countries -- tends to be quite biased and unrealistic when viewing its own importance in the world. This map is humbling in that respect. And even if it might not be entirely correct in terms of figures, it is still a good reminder of why most things are not invented here.
Posted by: Carl Stormer | Tuesday, January 16, 2007 at 01:12 PM
Interesting India and China are absent...
Posted by: Terry | Tuesday, January 16, 2007 at 11:14 PM
I'm not so sure about your map... Washington state (home of frikkin' Microsoft!) compared to Turkey? I doubt that.
Posted by: sravana | Wednesday, January 17, 2007 at 05:43 PM
As stated in the post: the map is not mine! I got it from a friend who got it from York International. See link under map. But even if it is not entirely correct -- it made me think about my own country in a new context, and most importantly, it made me laugh!
Posted by: Carl Stormer | Wednesday, January 17, 2007 at 05:48 PM
The similarities to Minnesota go deeper than that; a lot of Norwegians settled there, to the point that Garrison Kiellor makes references to "Norwegian bachelor farmers" in his classic radio show "A Prairie Home Companion".
Posted by: Reality Czech | Wednesday, January 17, 2007 at 06:35 PM
Your description of Norway reminds me very much of Ireland. Here everything is artificially expensive with high import duties and VAT, regulatory barriers/ex-state monopolies and so on, except that we don't have your oil/shipping industries!
Since we equate with Nevada, we could do with a Las Vegas like place too :)
Posted by: Stephen | Thursday, January 18, 2007 at 12:56 AM
Great post.
Note: the link to the York Group is broken.
Posted by: TJIC | Thursday, January 18, 2007 at 03:44 PM
The reason that Indian and China are not listed is that they have bigger economies than any US state. The objective of the map is to show what country is most similar to the state in terms of economy, not to show all the countries. France, which is linked here with California, has the 7th largest economy. (Lists of this vary a bit).
Posted by: aund | Saturday, January 20, 2007 at 03:31 AM
Can you help us locate the map on the York Group's website or ask your friend to provide a link? I was unable to confirm where it is on their site and what numbers they used. Just a quick comparison of numbers from the latest Human Development Report has vastly different numbers that are suggested by the map. I'd like to confirm where they got their numbers.
Posted by: Tony | Saturday, January 20, 2007 at 09:30 PM
Another strange coincidence: Virginia = Austria. If there were one state in the union that could replicate the Lippizaners, it would be Virginia.
(And yes, I know the Lippizaners are actually from Slovenia. It's a Habsburg thing.)
Posted by: Jack | Sunday, January 21, 2007 at 09:30 AM
Interesting commentary from this "blogger":http://www.barking-moonbat.com/index.php/weblog/world_economy_primer/ about the map and how Alabama has about the same GNP as Iran, four nuclear powerplants and a larger army. Well, with all due respect, "Iran":https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ir.html has 68 million people -- a majority of which are under 30 years of age (and they alle want to live in the US). I think this is important to rememeber when comparing nations? Also, I would think that Iran's strategic location makes a difference in terms of ability to influence the geopolitical scene.
Posted by: Carl Stormer | Tuesday, January 23, 2007 at 12:40 PM
The state of Maryland has the GDP of both Hong Kong & New Zealand combined?, or did you mistake the DelMarVA penninsula as a seperate state?
Posted by: Dave | Tuesday, January 23, 2007 at 04:37 PM