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Thursday, October 22nd, 2015

Something Not Rotten in Denmark

Author:     Paul Krugman
Source:     The New York Times
Publication Date:     19 October 2015
 Link: Something Not Rotten in Denmark
Stephan:  
Paul Krugman seems to have been struck as I was  by Bernie Sanders observations contrasting Norway and the other Scandanavian nations, with the U.S.. Of course I recognize that the entire population of Norway, 5,109,059 million in 2014  -- is a fraction of that of New York City, 8,336,697 in 2012.  And that the United States has a population of 318, 900,000, in 2014.
That's the objection cited by Anderson Cooper, CNN anchor and moderator. It's sounds quite damning, but I am not sure how relevant it is. One could also say Norway has a greater population than Wyoming, Vermont, District of Columbia, Alaska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Delaware combined. But I don't know that that is relevant either. It seems to me that the apposite question is what insights can we draw from the social outcomes these democratic nations have achieved, and how they did it.
Paul Krugman

Paul Krugman

No doubt surprising many of the people watching the Democratic presidential debate, Bernie Sanders cited Denmark as a role model for how to help working people. Hillary Clinton demurred slightly, declaring that “we are not Denmark,” but agreed that Denmark is an inspiring example.

Such an exchange would have been inconceivable among Republicans, who don’t seem able to talk about European welfare states without adding the word “collapsing.” Basically, on Planet G.O.P. all of Europe is just a bigger version of Greece. But how great are the Danes, really?

The answer is that the Danes get a lot of things right, and in so doing refute just about everything U.S. conservatives say about economics. And we can also learn a lot from the things Denmark has gotten wrong.

Denmark maintains a welfare state — a set of government programs designed to provide economic security — that is beyond the wildest dreams of American liberals. Denmark provides […]

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