Nordic cuddly capitalism: Utopia, no. But a global model for equity

[groundloop]

Here's a link to a great article on the Christian Science Monitor website. I've quoted just a bit of it, but the entire article is definitely worth a read.


http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2014/0511/Nordic-cuddly-capitalism-Utopia-no.-But-a-global-model-for-equity



“The social welfare system that we have is quite a good thing, because with taxes you can build a good society,” says Per Ericsson, a cheerful high school Swedish and English teacher with a shock of blond hair. “If you are unlucky, or don’t have a job, it’s OK; you can still go to the dentist.”

Mr. Ericsson, 40-something and unmarried, takes home about $4,200 a month after the myriad taxes he pays. With the high cost of living in Stockholm – a dozen eggs are $4, 50 percent more than in Boston – he has $200 to $300 a month left for discretionary spending or savings. But he doesn’t need more, he says. Citizens here don’t need to save for medical emergencies, unexpected unemployment, pre-school, or college funds.

If Ericsson were a teacher in the US, he might get more as a percentage of income in his paycheck, but he’d have to save for the things taxes guarantee in Sweden. He says he lives a good life, which includes meals out, yearly vacations, and his own apartment – and a premium Spotify account (basic service is free; premium commercial-free service costs about $10 a month). He even took a sabbatical, to fulfill his dream of writing a book about the late Swedish songwriter Ted Gärdestad. As a comparison, Ericsson’s brother lives down the street and is married with three kids. The brother just sold his online marketing company for a significant amount. The two, Ericsson reckons, have a comparable quality of life.

For some, this philosophical commitment to equality has its downside. Swedish schoolchildren never receive a grade until sixth grade – it was eighth grade until 2012 – so that no young child is categorized, either as good or bad. In fact, playing down individual pursuits runs so deep in the Scandinavian psyche that it has a name: the Jante Law – which roughly means “don’t think you are better than anyone else.”

[MannyGoldstein]

1. Sounds like a Hell hole

Great men like Jamie and Lloyd could never do business there.

[woo me with science]

2. But we're better than North Korea!

Seriously, thank you for this post. Corporatists love to urge Americans to compare ourselves to some of the most repressive places on earth, but it's rare to see media discussion of the social and economic systems in the countries we *should*be comparing ourselves to.

[groundloop]

3. It's depressing to compare what we could be to what we are

Articles about other countries and cultures make us step back and think about how screwed up we really are. IMO the "American Dream" is getting even further out of reach for most people now that most "retirement" is based on 401K's etc. and the pension has gone the way of the do-do bird.

[JNelson6563]

4. It's much the same in Norway.

I have friends there and this article is close to how they describe their world too.

Julie

[malaise]

9. Same in Denmark as well

Greed is not considered good and their people are the happiest on the planet.

[Nye Bevan]

5. Yep, the Nordic countries show that capitalism can work well.

All that is needed is appropriate levels of taxation and regulation. That's why I'm never overly impressed by the "ZOMG CAPITALISM IS SO EVIL WE NEED TO END IT" threads.

[abelenkpe]

7. Do you honestly think the US would ever adopt this style of capitalism?

I really wish we would. If we're gonna continue on with the crappy sparta style of capitalism we enjoy now then expect more to call for ending capitalism altogether. Our current system needs to change.

[Nye Bevan]

10. We're moving in that direction.

Obamacare raised taxes on the rich significantly to help pay for poorer people to get health care.

[groundloop]

11. Maybe in another 50 years or so we can take another baby step.

That's my prediction of how long it will take for anything else to happen which will have any kind of significant impact to improve the lives of middle and lower class working Americans.

[abelenkpe]

13. Change that slow will hurt more than it

Would help. Hopefully it won't take that long.

[Exultant Democracy]

6. They do a lot of stuff right, unfortunately they don't want immigrants using the doctors too.

They really would be close to a utopia if they hadn't discovered rather recently ( over the course of my shot life) how big a problem racism is going to be. It's easy to pay for the guy down the block to have his appendices out when you know they he's at most you 5th cousin. It takes a real evolved culture to embrace that the rights and privileges that they want for their own should be universal rights.

[jwirr]

8. You are correct about the racism. However, both Sweden and Norway have a way of working to fix

problems unlike the USA. We tried but look at what is happening now. I suspect it will take some time but I trust that they will adjust to the racial differences especially if they can keep their economy working.

[Dragonfli]

12. We really should be phasing in a similar system before Capitalism collapse under it's own

weight of excess (as will always happen when not strongly controlled), leaving us with chaos, bloodshed and large scale starvation.

No matter what one may think of Marx, he described the inevitable course of unfettered Capitalism with a precision usually only seen in a physicist's math formula. The only way to prevent Capitalism from it's all too predictable trajectory is with strong regulation and a balancing system of taxation, at least that is how history teaches us to harness it properly. The only other option to this prescription has proven to be a devolving state where desperate starving people get involved in armed revolution and abandon Capitalism altogether in favor of Communism.

I prefer the former to the latter simply because it is the poor just trying to survive that shed the most blood during wars and revolutions and I rather like the people in my lower class and don't want want us to shed so much blood before we find relief.

[woo me with science]

14. kick

[steve2470]

15. Sweden American-style should be our template

I'm sure Rush et al would dredge up every lie possible to try to debunk this article.

[DemocraticWing]

16. The Social Democratic Party was in charge for all but 9 years between 1936 and 2006.

They didn't build their superior system by choosing between centrists and conservatives.

[pampango]

17. "The trade-off is straightforward: Citizens pay higher income taxes for social services that other

nations leave to families.

The earned income tax burden for a family of four with a single wage earner in Sweden is close to 38 percent, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), compared with the United States at 20.3 percent (and 38 percent in Finland, 31 percent in Norway, and 28 percent in Denmark).

In return for their fiscal burden, Nordics smooth away the worries of the middle class: They get comprehensive pensions, unemployment insurance, and universal health care. Losing a job, while professionally defeating, doesn’t turn into financial demise. Nor does a long-term illness. The welfare state means free university education and heavily subsidized all-day preschools. Public spending on day care and early education in the Nordic countries averages 1.4 percent of gross domestic product; it is less than 0.4 percent in the US, for example.

The result is a robust middle class. All five Nordic nations rank in the top 10 most equal countries globally, according to the OECD. (The US, by comparison, sits at 31, just above Turkey and Mexico.)

Income equality and a robust middle class are not rocket science. It is not that difficult to achieve once a society has the will to pursue them.