Bjørn Skogstad Aamo (21 January 1946 – 24 December 2023) was a Norwegian economist and politician for the Labour Party. He was State Secretary for three non-consecutive terms between 1973 and 1993, and served as Director of the
Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway
The Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway () is a Norwegian government agency responsible for supervision of financial companies within Norway based on law and regulations from Storting, the Norwegian Ministry of Finance and international a ...
from 1993 to 2011.
Career
Political career
Born in
Oslo
Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...
, Skogstad Aamo grew up in
Mandal
A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administrative c ...
in Southern Norway. He became involved in politics at an early age, and was appointed chairman of the local Workers' Youth League chapter in 1962. He then moved back to the capital to enroll at the
University of Oslo
The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...
. He became chairman of the Workers' Youth League chapter there. Situated on the left wing of the organization, he became a vocal opponent of the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
as well as the Norwegian
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental transnational military alliance of 32 member states—30 European and 2 North American. Established in the aftermat ...
membership, much to the dismay of party secretary
Haakon Lie
Haakon Steen Lie (22 September 1905 – 25 May 2009) was a Norwegian politician who served as party secretary for the Norwegian Labour Party from 1945 to 1969. Coming from humble origins, he became involved in the labour movement at an early ag ...
. However, Skogstad Aamo found support from fellow economist Per Kleppe, at that time a deputy member of the party central committee and head of the
think tank
A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...
''Arbeiderbevegelsens utredningskontor''.
Skogstad Aamo graduated with the degree cand.oecon. in
economics
Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...
Ministry of Finance
A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position .
A ministry of finance's portfoli ...
from 1973 to 1979, serving under Per Kleppe who had become
Minister of Finance
A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position .
A ministry of finance's portfolio ...
.
Skogstad Aamo was then head of the department of economics in the
European Free Trade Association
The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is a regional trade organization and free trade area consisting of four List of sovereign states and dependent territories in Europe, European states: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. ...
from 1979 to 1981, and director of the Regional Development Fund from 1981 to 1986. He then returned as State Secretary from 1986 to 1989 under Minister of Finance
Gunnar Berge
Gunnar Berge (born 29 August 1940) is a Norway, Norwegian politician for the Norwegian Labour Party, Labour Party, born in Etne, Hordaland. Berge represented Rogaland in the Stortinget, Norwegian Parliament from 1969 to 1993. He was Minister of Fi ...
in Brundtland's Second Cabinet. He lost his job when Brundtland's Second Cabinet fell in 1989, and briefly returned to Regional Development Fund. In 1990 as the short-lived Syse's Cabinet fell and
Brundtland's Third Cabinet
Brundtland's Third Cabinet was a minority, Labour Government of Norway. It succeeded the H- Sp- KrF Cabinet Syse, and sat between 3 November 1990 and 25 October 1996.Office of the Prime Minister.
Financial Supervisory Authority
In 1993 Skogstad Aamo was appointed Director of the Financial Supervisory Authority, succeeding Svein Aasmundstad. This decision was criticized by the political opposition. He belonged to the same political party as
Minister of Finance
A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position .
A ministry of finance's portfolio ...
Sigbjørn Johnsen
Sigbjørn Johnsen (born 1 October 1950) is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party and was Norwegian Minister of Finance in the periods 1990–1996 and 2009–2013.
He is a former member of parliament and served as County Governor of Hed ...
and the rest of Brundtland's Third Cabinet. Since Skogstad Aamo came directly from a government position, that of state secretary, parliament member Lars Gunnar Lie cited concern about a perceived lack of distance between the third cabinet Brundtland and the Financial Supervisory Authority. This would put the independence of the latter at odds, he claimed. However, most of the criticism was directed at Sigbjørn Johnsen, who at that time was under scrutiny for his involvement with private corporation UNI Storebrand. The Financial Supervisory Authority would have a role in this scrutiny, and several people, including parliament member
Kristin Halvorsen
Kristin Halvorsen (born 2 September 1960) is a Norwegian politician of the Socialist Left Party. She served as Minister of Finance from 2005 to 2009 and as Minister of Education from 2009 to 2013. She also served as the party's leader from 19 ...
, asked for the appointment of Johnsen's party fellow be postponed until after the case was closed. Parliament member Carl I. Hagen called for Johnsen to resign. On the other hand, conservative newspaper ''
Aftenposten
(; ; stylized as in the masthead) is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation as well as Norway's newspaper of record. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 daily copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen ...
'' defended the decision in an op-ed the next day, citing Skogstad Aamo's strong qualifications for the job. The criticism did not hinder the appointment of Skogstad Aamo, and Sigbjørn Johnsen remained in his seat.
Skogstad Aamo applied for the position as
Governor
A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
Svein Gjedrem
Svein Ingvar Gjedrem (born 25 January 1950 in Finnøy) is a Norwegian economist and former Governor of the Central Bank of Norway.
He graduated in political economy from the University of Oslo in 1975, worked as a consultant in the Central Bank ...
was appointed.
During the
2008 financial crisis
The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...
, Skogstad Aamo stated that banks are safer in Norway than in any other country. The matters are complicated by Norway's close relations to Iceland, whose national crisis had consequences for Norwegian customers in the banks Glitnir and
Kaupthing
Kaupthing Bank (, ) was a major international Icelandic bank, headquartered in Reykjavík, Iceland. It was taken over by the Icelandic government during the 2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis and the domestic Icelandic-based operations were ...