Verbraucher- und marktpolitische Konsequenzen einer stärkeren staatlichen Wirtschaftslenkung Überlegungen zur Entwicklung in Norwegen

Zusammenfassung

Eine Übersicht über die wichtigsten Bereiche des norwegischen Wirtschaftsrechts zeigt zunächst, wie groß der staatliche Einfluß auf die wirtschaftlichen Entscheidungen von Unternehmungen und individuellen Berufstätigen geworden ist. Die mit dem staatlichen Interventionismus verbundenen Probleme werden unter wettbewerbstheoretischen, rechtlichen, gesellschaftlichen und verbraucherpolitischen Gesichtspunkten erörtert. Der Beitrag schließt mit der These, daß für Norwegen eine aktive wettbewerbsfördernde Wirtschaftspolitik notwendig sei, die zugleich die beste Verbraucherpolitik darstelle.

Abstract

This article gives a survey of Norwegian economic legislation which reflects a strong tendency of government intervention. This is apparent, above all, in the legislation on investment and establishment, on credit and capital movements, and in government policies concerning subsidies, prices, and incomes.

A discussion of the main problems connected with state intervention in economic life then follows. A serious problem is the distortion of the principle of competition. In fact a new kind of competition has developed which does not primarily aim at the satisfaction of consumers, but at the manipulation of public agencies entrusted with the responsibility of making case-to-case decisions of vital importance to the enterprises. This situation is neither in accordance with the needs of a market economy nor with those of a planned economy. Such decisions do not implement public planning. On the contrary, they are ad hoc decisions which are difficult to foresee — a new kind of “invisible hand.”

The system raises problems also from legal and political points of view. Government intervention by means of individual decisions can work only if the public decision-makers are protected from external pressures. This is not possible, however, in a democracy where everybody has the right to influence public opinion, individually or collectively. It is therefore an open question if a system of state intervention by means of individual, case-to-case decisions can be reconciled with democratic values such as freedom of the press and the right to form organizations.

Finally, government intervention is discussed from the point of view of consumer policy. This discussion indicates that it is difficult to separate the consumer role of the citizen from his many other roles. A market economy seems to take care of the citizens' different needs tolerably well because it works as an integrated system. It is therefore the foremost public task to foster the market as an institution, that is, to guard the total system.