Wal-mart Blacklisted

Fox News

The people who run Norway's global state investment fund are blacklisting Wal-Mart — because they say the world's largest retailer discourages labor unions. The fund has an ethics policy prohibiting investments in companies that make weapons and do other things the Norwegians don't approve of. The leader of the fund's ethics council says the policy exists "so the Norwegian people can sleep better at night."

But the U.S. ambassador to Norway calls the policy hypocritical — pointing out the fund does invest in countries where there are no private labor unions at all.

Ambassador Benson Whitney says the inconsistent approach actually "encourages unethical companies and discourages ethical ones."