The world’s largest wealth fund has invested more than half of its stocks in the US and intends to remain invested.
The reason? “Americans just work harder,” said Nicolai Tangen, CEO of the $1.6 trillion Norwegian oil fund Norges Bank.
Tangen told the Financial Times on Wednesday that the fund is heavily invested in American companies because the U.S. has a different business mentality and work ethic
“If you go broke in America, you get another chance,” Tangen told the FT. “You’re dead in Europe.”
Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norges Bank. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images
“I should be careful when I talk about work-life balance, but Americans just work harder,” he said. Tangen also noted that Norges Bank will “remain invested” in American companies for the long term.
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U.S. workers actually work longer hours than workers in Norway, where Norges Bank is based. According to the latest data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the average number of hours worked annually in the United States was 1,811 in 2022, almost 400 hours more than Norway’s average of 1,425 hours worked during the same period.
U.S. employees also outperformed employees from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, and many other countries, exceeding the overall average.
But longer hours may not be something to brag about. A 2021 study by the World Health Organization and the International Labor Organization showed that long working hours can have a long-term impact on health – and pose a greater danger than occupational hazards.
The study found that working more than 55 hours per week resulted in a 35% higher risk of stroke and a 17% higher risk of heart disease.
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Additionally, overtime may not lead to increased performance: A five-year University of California-Berkeley study found that job performance tends to plateau after reaching a 50-hour-week threshold.
“Consider the profound implication of these results: The entire premise of the global work ethic—that harder work equals better results—is fundamentally false,” the study’s author wrote.
Tangen also pointed out in the FT interview that American companies are developing and advancing technologies faster than their European counterparts, a trend he described as “worrying.”
Increased innovation could be a byproduct of longer working hours or other factors such as U.S. culture, its population, and the systems that support innovation.
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