« Fear's Here, Dear. | Main | Behavioral foible of the day: Loss Aversion »

Norway thinks corporations shouldn't be scumbags.

Aftenposten reports that the Norwegian Government Pension Fund has washed its hands of Wal-Mart and Freeport McMoRan :

[Finance Minister] Halvorsen's office cited "serious" and "systematic violations of human rights and labour rights" as its reason for pulling out of its Wal-Mart investments.

Another decision to dump shares in Freeport McMoRan was based on "serious environmental damage" incurred by the company.

Halvorsen was quoted in a government statement as saying that the exclusions "reflect our refusal to contribute to serious, systematic or gross violations of ethical norms in these areas through our investments in the Government Pension Fund - Global."