Paul Krugman on the differences between Nordic countries and the US:
“The point for
welfare comparisons is that while Nordic families at, say, the 60th percentile
of the income distribution have lower purchasing power than their American
counterparts, they also have much more free time and an arguably better
work-life balance. Are they really worse off? You can make a good case that
taking all of this into account, the majority of Nordic citizens are actually
better off than Americans.”
Related:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/23/us/politics/socialist-democrats-trump-elections.html
Paul Krugman on Denmark’s
highly successful socio-economic model
Megan McArdle considers
the Danish
model:
“… Denmark has solved its pension problem, keeping
budgets in balance, generously pre-funding private retirement accounts, and
linking retirement ages to rising lifespans. After 15 years of watching every
other country fail to address the coming demographic bulge, it’s hard not to
think that if the Danes can do that, they can do anything.
So, sorry, conservatives: Denmark really does combine
high wages with high employment, high taxes with prosperity, fiscal
responsibility with high levels of government spending. No wonder leftists ask
if policymakers couldn’t do something like that in the U.S.
But also … sorry, leftists. After a week in Copenhagen, the conclusion I came to is that no, they probably can’t. Not because the Danish model doesn’t work, but because it’s so very, very Danish.”
But also … sorry, leftists. After a week in Copenhagen, the conclusion I came to is that no, they probably can’t. Not because the Danish model doesn’t work, but because it’s so very, very Danish.”
Economic Mobility Comparisons: Derek
Thompson notes:
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/08/the-american-dream-isnt-alive-in-denmark/494141/
“The first big idea is that Denmark is not a nation of
Horatio Algersens. Its high social mobility is not the result of an economy
that is uniquely good at helping poor children earn middle-class salaries.
Instead, it is a country much like the U.S., where the children of poor parents
who don’t go to college are also unlikely to attend college or earn a high
wage. Social mobility in Denmark and the U.S. seem to be remarkably similar
when looking exclusively at wages—that is, before including taxes and
transfers.
It is only after accounting for Denmark’s high taxes
on the rich and large transfers to the poor that its social mobility looks so
much better than the U.S.’s. America’s (relatively conservative) economic
philosophy is that, with low taxes and little regulation, the market is an open
savannah where the most talent will win out. But Denmark’s economic philosophy
seems to be that the market is an unfortunate socioeconomic lottery system, and
so the country compensates the poor with generous transfers paid by high taxes
on the rich.”