Skandinavisk välfärdsmyt

Är Sverige världens bästa land, alla kategorier? Ja, den som tittade på socialdemokraternas valupptakt kunde lätt förledas att tro det. Men den socialdemokratiska välfärdsmodellen kritiseras starkt i en artikel i TCS Daily, Social Model Myths:

What about the Scandinavian model(s)? Despite the overwhelming success of the Irish alternative, supporters of a sizeable role of the state in the economy continue to plead in favor of the Scandinavian model. But, as the authors argue, Scandinavian policies have proved to be particularly inefficient. Scandinavia has gone through a long period of steady decline with poor growth and low job creation. In 1970, Sweden's level of prosperity was one quarter above Belgium's. By 2003 Sweden's position in the prosperity index had fallen from number 5 to 14, two places behind Belgium. ...Together with Italy, the Scandinavian countries are the worst performing economies in the entire European Union.

... Rather than taking them as an example, Europe's politicians should shun the Scandinavian big-government recipes. If there is anything to be learnt from the Scandinavian experience it is that Scandinavia succeeds in making a more efficient use of public resources, through investment and innovation. Nevertheless even their strict restrictive unemployment policies will never result in higher growth as long as they stick to big spending policies and oversized governments.