Get out of the sauna and go to work

former Vanderbilt Professor Knut Mork is concerned that oil is making Norwegians soft:

Some are spending too much time in their cabins in the woods and their family boats on the sea, he worries, while others are too eager to abuse Norway's generous social safety net. Eleven percent of the working-age population in Norway is out on disability.

"It's not that the government is handing out money to everybody to live a lavish life," he says. "But it's become, with all the various programs, very easy to escape from working. I call this an oil-for-leisure program."

Anton Mork adds, "Sure, we've been lucky. But I don't think I'm being a crank. I think I'm saying we're living a lie. The lie is that we're taking care of everybody's needs. And we're not."

He says little is being done to deal with problems like Norway's aging population and decaying rail and road network. He says it's time for Norwegians to get out of the sauna and get back to work.