norway

Once again, 24/7 Wall St. has examined the OECD's report on life satisfaction. And once again, the United States fails to make the top 10 happiest nations in the world. Which countries do? Some may surprise you.

Most Americans say that if the price of gas rises to between $4 to $6 a gallon, they're going to make "major" changes in lifestyle. Well, get ready to change, America: In some states prices have already touched the $4 mark. But it could be ever so much worse.

With U.S. gas prices near historic highs, Americans are anxious about the cost of filling up. But we still feel far less pain at the pump than drivers in many other developed nations. On the flip side, if you drive in the right world cities, you can still pay less than $1 a gallon.

On Tuesday, McDonald's (MCD) announced its plans to leave Iceland. This weekend, the global restaurant's three franchises, all located in Reykjavik, will close their doors, as the country's weak economy has made Big Mac's prohibitively expensive. McDonald's has only been in Iceland for a few...

Imagine being able to flip on your computer and find out the annual income of your neighbor. Or your favorite teacher. Or the guy that serves you coffee every morning. If you lived in Norway, it's quite possible that you could. Tax authorities in Norway have issued the "skatteliste," or "tax...

Hywind, the world's first floating wind turbine, went on line this week, six miles off the coast of Stavanger, Norway. It owes its existence to two oil and gas engineers who asked, according to Sjur Bratland, the Hywind project manager, "Why not? Why not do it?" StatoilHydro, the Norwegian oil...

I've been reading about Norway's success with the "cradle-to-grave welfare state and it's got me wondering, like many others, if we should be emulating its frugal northern people rather than throwing our back out with the effort to spread democracy worldwide. I must admit, I'm a little cuckoo for...

If this were the 1950s, I'd be about to be put on every blackball list in town. Because I'm cuckoo for those Socialist cocoa puffs after reading this piece on Norway's success with the "cradle-to-grave welfare state." Bring on the 12-month paid maternity leaves, the all-access-pass to nationalized...

For all the trouble Iceland, Norway and Japan went through to defy the rest of the world and resume whaling, it's starting to look like whaling isn't going to be that profitable. Meanwhile, the whale watching industry continues to grow -- but how big it is no one is sure.People have been hunting...