Norway's public sector balance sheet

摘要

An intertemporal public sector balance sheet is the most comprehensive way to evaluate long-term fiscal sustainability. But data constraints imply that it is still seldomly used. In this article, we illustrate the considerable value added of such an analysis over standard debt sustainability analyses, using the example of Norway and find surprising results: The immense wealth in its oil fund is insufficient to address future aging pressures, including because nonoil fiscal deficits have already grown large.