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The problem with nordic countries is they may be "exceptions that prove the rule". You have to consider: 1. Natural resources 2. Massive advantage after WW2 (
by lukasm 12y ago
The problem with nordic countries is they may be "exceptions that prove the rule". You have to consider:
1. Natural resources
2. Massive advantage after WW2 (low damage, all other factories in Europe were destroyed)
3. Cultural context
In the end of 1940s GDP/person in Sweden was 2x comparing to Germany. Now they are closing the gap, Sweden got relatively high unemployment and the government is cutting the taxes to stimulate the growth.
- paletoy 12y agoCould you share your data regarding sweden ? Because a rough google search tends to indicate otherwise : http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hiivxsweO-A/TevbWlBTyoI/AAAAAAAAA8I/knROBKFKx8s/s1600/comparative%2Beconomic%2Bgrowth.jpg http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hiivxsweO-A/TevbWlBTyoI/AAAAAAAAA8... http://shaneleavy.blogspot.co.il/2011/06/economic-growth-trends-since-1969.html http://shaneleavy.blogspot.co.il/2011/06/economic-growth-tre...
- lukasm 12y agoWikipedia GDP nominal PPP S 40,870 57,297 G 41,248 47,893 That chart is doggy. No 2000 recession
- paletoy 12y agoOK , here's wiki[2]: You're right about germany(the war hurt it really bad) but if we choose say the UK, sweden and the UK show similar GDP/PPP numbers. But it seems that sweden has much greater income equality than the uk according to [2]. [1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_regions_by_past_GDP_%28PPP%29_per_capita#World_1.E2.80.932003_.28Maddison.29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_regions_by_past_GDP_%28... [2]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_equality http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_equ...
- nine_k 12y agoSweden has that sort of almost-confiscatory tax above certain level. This, of course, greatly helps Gini index, and provides plenty of free public services. OTOH a few iconic Swedish companies, like IKEA [1] and Ericsson [2], largely withdrew from the Swedish tax system. This may have something to do with motivation, e.g. the motivation to merely stay afloat. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IKEA#Profits https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IKEA#Profits [2] Can't readily find a concise document; relying on Ericsson's employees word-of-mouth ere.
- _delirium 12y agoEven Germany has a fairly collectivist economy by American standards, the famous "social market economy". The idea is that the economy should be largely market-based, but tempered by a social aspect: a strong safety net, state-provided basic services (health, transit, university, housing, etc.), and a fairly high level of income redistribution. West Germany also traditionally (though this is weakening post-reunification due to "internal outsourcing" to the East) had a corporatist industrial-relations system similar to the Nordic one, which is based on consensus-finding between multiple stakeholders (industry, unions, governments), so things like pay and working conditions are agreed upon jointly in sector negotiations.