A presentation of Generational Accounting in Norway

The aim of this paper is to describe why generational accounting may be of special interest in evaluating the fiscal stance in a country like Norway, a small open economy with large public wealth. The paper describes how results from the exercise have changed over time, and discusses some items that have been incorporated in the calculations. Finally, it presents an alternative to the standard modelling approach for government purchases of goods and services (public consumption). While the importance of public consumption varies between countries, the paper shows that in a country where the level og public purchases is high, the sensitivity to alternative approaches is large.