Scandal?

There is a big fuzz in the Norwegian media these days after several communes (municipalities) have entered into agreements with a company of investors, Terra, to invest in several prospects in America. As it turned out, the communes ended up losing huge amounts of money through these investments, something which - naturally - upsets the resident tax payers of the communes.

The local politicians claim that Terra has 'tricked' them and that they were supposed to receive good returns on their investments. Now, they (and the media) are demanding that Terra pay back the lost investments, as well as sack their board of directors etc. As much as I can understand that people are upset for losing money, there is something I just have to say.

Upon making any investment, there will always be a notion of RISK. And aren't investors themselves responsible for the investments and the risk inherent therein? I don't see why the communes make an investment - which obviously needs to bear an element of risk - and then complain afterwards. ALL investments bear a notion of risk, and it must be the investor's choice and responsibility whether they can afford to take that risk or not. In my opinion the communes (and maybe their advisors) are at fault in this matter.

My Dad once said, as I was going to play poker with some friends, don't bet more than you can afford to lose. It is plain common sense and wisely summarised as well. Nevertheless, this common sense seems to have circumferred the decision makers in certain communes. If I play poker with my friend and lose, I wouldn't blame my friend. But in blaming Terra, that seems to be exactly what the communes are doing.



* under the provision that I might not have unravelled all the facts of this matter