OSLO -- When capitalism seemed on the verge of collapse last fall, Kristin Halvorsen, Norway's Socialist finance minister and a longtime free market skeptic, did more than crow. Skip to next paragraph Multimedia Graphic Sea of Plenty Related Times Topics: Sovereign Wealth Funds Enlarge This Image Espen Rasmussen for The New York Times

Friends meeting in an Oslo nightspot. Norway's economy grew 3 percent last year as many nations plunged into a recession.

As investors the world over sold in a panic, she bucked the tide, authorizing Norway's $300 billion sovereign wealth fund to ramp up its stock buying program by $60 billion -- or about 23 percent of Norway 's economic output.

"The timing was not that bad," Ms. Halvorsen said, smiling with satisfaction over the broad worldwide market rally that began in early March.