Economic Lessons from Scandinavia - Daniel J. Mitchell - Townhall Finance Conservative Columnists and Financial Commentary - Page full

Economic Lessons from Scandinavia - Daniel J. Mitchell - Townhall Finance Conservative Columnists and Financial Commentary - Page full

In my younger years, I oftentimes would have arguments with statists who wanted me to believe that countries in Northern Europe like Sweden “proved” that generous welfare states were compatible with economic prosperity.

That doesn’t happen as often today because the Nordic nations in recent decades have not enjoyed rapid growth. Moreover, some of the nations – such as Sweden in the early 1990s and Iceland last decade – suffered from serious financial downturns.

So I stand by my position that free markets and small government are the recipe for prosperity.

Our first story is from the Washington Post, and it’s authored by a British journalist who lives in Denmark. He starts by noting the inordinate amount of praise these countries receive.

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But he then points out that these is trouble in the Nordic paradise.

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Now let’s look at our second story, which was published by the New York Post.

The tone is more negative, but it basically has the same message.