[Misc] Electric Cars

[GOM]

Not really. You just have to resist the temptation to spunk it all straight away.

Assume an equal ability to invest it wisely and limit spending from it to a sustainable level and we'd be in the same position as the Norwegians. The amount of oil and gas extracted by the UK and Norway is similar.
They now spend £30-35bn a year from it while the fund still grows.
We let the private sector take a big chunk and spaffed the rest on some tax cuts and immediate spending.

£30-£35 billion would be a drop in the ocean for spending here. In this financial year government spending is expected to be over 1,200 billion (https://obr.uk/forecasts-in-depth/brief-guides-and-explainers/public-finances/)
Norway's total expenditure was set at 1.88 trillion NOK which equates to approx 135 billion sterling approx 11% of UK.

So yes it is easier to accumulate a wealth fund when there is less to spend it on.

 

[MJsGhost]

£30-£35 billion would be a drop in the ocean for spending here. In this financial year government spending is expected to be over 1,200 billion (https://obr.uk/forecasts-in-depth/brief-guides-and-explainers/public-finances/)
Norway's total expenditure was set at 1.88 trillion NOK which equates to approx 135 billion sterling approx 11% of UK.

So yes it is easier to accumulate a wealth fund when there is less to spend it on.

My point isn't that it would solve all of the UK's problems. My point is that there was still an opportunity to build up a fund of the equivalent size of Norway's. The process was just as easy, it just needed the correct decision.

£30-35bn might be considered a drop in the ocean but I'd imagine that, for example, the education system in this country could be very quickly improved with the extra c. 30% of spending that would represent.

It was a political decision to hand it over to the private sector and buy short-term popularity through tax cuts and immediate spending with the money received, rather than provide 'free' money for spending in perpetuity (albeit a smaller percentage of overall spending compared to Norway).