A lot of comments in this thread seem fixated on the fact that this originated from oil profits, but to me it feels like more of a consequence of the Norwegian government's partial public ownership of its domestic energy companies and other industries. Lots of countries have a surplus of at least one natural resource; few of them have central governments with the authority (and lack of corruption) to publicly own those resources. Most governments just can't keep their hands out of the cookie jar.

Every time I hear someone talk about socialism, whether its pundits or politicians or columnists, they talk about welfare. Everyone seems to have forgotten that that public ownership of capital is by definition the more important part of socialist policy that makes welfare possible. Norway is probably the best example of this idea's power. I'm not saying socialism is without weaknesses, but I don't understand how anyone can look at Norway and think that it doesn't work or is somehow evil.