Debunking Utopia
Page 20
Q
quotas, 118–20
R
Rasmussen, Lars Løkke (prime minister, Denmark), 5, 184, 185
Reagan, Ronald, 128–29, 130, 135, 139, 143, 144
reforms, 6, 84, 85, 87, 90, 96, 97, 101, 118, 133, 134, 137, 142, 170, 189, 193–94
refugees, 154, 168, 170–71, 175, 178
Reinfeldt, Fredrik, 20, 168–69
Renstig, Monica, 114
Republicans, 130
Rifkin, Jeremy, 147–48
Roine, Jesper, 38
Rojas, Mauricio, 214n7
Romson, Åsa, 178, 215n16
Roosevelt, Franklin D., 55, 125–26, 128, 130, 135, 139, 143, 144–45
Rubio, Marco, 7
Runeberg, Johan Ludvig, 51
Russia, 46t, 51, 207n7
S
SAAB, 99
Sachs, Jeffrey, 22
Saddam Hussein, 156
Sahlgren, Gabriel Heller, 180
Samuelson, Alexander, 61
Sanandaji, Tino, 12–13, 39, 169, 172, 180, 204n16
Sanders, Bernie, 1, 2–3, 7, 9, 12, 13, 17–18, 19, 26–27, 31, 55, 57, 126, 184, 187, 196n1, 197n10
Sargent, Thomas, 103
Saudi Arabia, 141
Save the Children, 24
Scandinavian Americans, 66, 68
GDP per capita among, 63t
high school graduation rate (age 25+) among, 64t number of, 202n5
poverty rate in the United States among, 66t
unemployment rate among, 65t
Scandinavian business, role of Viking heritage (self-sufficiency, etc.) in, 45
Scandinavian Unexceptionalism (N. Sanandaji), 12, 13, 197n12
Schneider, Friedrich G., 132
Schyman, Gudrun, 113
Scientific American, 22
Seaborg, Glenn Theodore, 61
Second World War, 61
Securitas, 99
self-esteem, 144
self-reliance / self-sufficiency, 45, 125, 194
serfdom, 22, 39, 50
shadow economies, 210n12
Shangri-La (as an analogue), 23–24, 198n18
share of workers in Europe “totally committed to their employer,” 46t
sick leave, 1, 7, 18, 32, 102, 103, 108, 134–35, 196n, 202n22, 207n26
Singapore, 33, 34t, 37
Sipilä, Juha Petri (prime minister, Finland), 5
60 Minutes, 174
Skjervheim, Vegard, 141
Skylitzes, John, 109
Slovak Republic, 39–41
Slovenia, 39–40
Smith, Adam, 87
Snartland, Vemund, 117
social capital, 53, 85, 86, 154
social cohesion, 24, 27, 54, 74, 86, 131, 140, 149, 175, 182
social democracy, 1–4, 18, 22, 24, 26, 27, 29, 30, 33, 35, 36, 41, 52, 55, 57, 62, 68, 70, 71, 79, 93, 102, 108, 120, 147, 149, 175, 182, 184, 187, 192 See also democratic socialism; socialism
American obsession with Nordic. See chapter 1 (pp. 17–25)
core ideas of, 1
and socialism, compared, 2
Social Democrats/social democrats, 10g, 83, 89, 108, 185
in Denmark, 5, 136, 137, 184
in southern Europe, 27
in Sweden, 7, 8–9, 76, 89, 90, 92, 95, 178, 197n10
social engineering, 107–8
socialism, 2, 9, 24, 84, 86, 89, 91, 93, 94, 104, 120, 185, 191–93. See also democratic socialism; social democracy; Third Way
Socialists, 7, 9, 10g, 27
social mobility, 146, 148–49, 182
social outcomes, role of choices and culture in,
Søgaard, Jakob Egholt, 39
Solberg, Erna, 5
Somalia, 152, 154
Soviet Union, 2, 101
Spain, 4, 11, 34t
Spector, Susanne, 103
“spiritual resources,” 144
sports events, increases in sickness absence during, 134
Springsteen, Bruce, 21
Statistics Canada, 155
Stenkula, Mikael, 114
Stockton, Robert, 61
Stoltenberg, Jens, 147
Sundback, Gideon, 61
Syria, 175, 176
Sweden, 2, 3, 6–9, 11–13, 19, 20, 21, 24, 31, 32, 33, 34t, 35, 36–39, 46t, 47, 52–53, 54, 59, 60, 62, 66, 71–75, 76, 83, 86–94, 96–105, 107–8, 109–18, 130, 131, 133–34, 136, 138, 143, 146, 147, 150, 152, 154–56, 158, 167–84, 186t, 187–90, 191t, 193, 199nn3–5, 204n16, 205n13, 206n26, 216n3
absolute poverty rate in, 66
breakdown of taxes paid by a wage earner in, 203n5
coffee consumption per person in the, 48t
difference in unemployment between high-educated native born and foreign born in, 157t
employment in
before and after the Great Depression, 98t
before and after the 1990s crisis, 100g
employment levels comparing foreign native born to foreign born in, 151t
GDP per capita in, 63t
high school graduation rate (age 25+) in, 64t
jobs growth (public-sector and privatesector) in, 96, 97g
immigration crisis in. See chapter 10 (pp. 167–82)
PISA scores of children of immigrants in, 164t
ranking on the Better Life Index, 25t
ranking on list of top ten countries with lowest income inequality, 40t
rate of growth during
early social democrat era (1936–1970), 89t
free market era (1870–1936), 88t
Third Way Socialist era (1970–1991), 94t
share of immigrants who self-identify as not in good health, 163
share of women managers in, 112t
top tax rate in, 189t
total tax rate in 1960, 199n4, 216n3
unemployment rate, 65t
unemployment levels between low-educated native born and foreign born in, 153t
Sweden Democrats, 7, 169, 178
Swedes, described, 52
Swedish Americans, 62, 66
GDP per capita among, 63t
high school graduation rate (age 25+) among, 64t
number of, 202n5
poverty rate in the United States among, 66t
unemployment rate among, 65t
Swedish Feminist Initiative, 113
Swedish Fiscal Policy Council, 179
Swedish School Inspectorate, 180–81
Swedish Trade Union Confederation LO, 102–3
Switzerland, 25t, 29, 33, 34t, 37t, 46t
T
tax. See in general chapter 5, “How Can the Nordics Tax So Much?” (pp. 69–79).
breakdown of taxes paid by a Swedish earner, 72–73, 203n5
employer’s fee, 75
evolution of taxes in the Nordics over time. See graphs on pp. 77–78
top tax rate by country, 189
value-added tax (VAT), 75–76
on work and consumption, true level versus perceived (Swedes), 76, 79
tax reductions, 6, 11, 73, 96, 97, 188, 193
Teitelbaum, Benjamin, 167–68
Tennessee (and women’s property rights), 110
Tetra Pak (Swedish company), 88, 91
Third Way, 24, 91–94, 192. See democratic socialism; social democracy
Time magazine, 21, 171
Tobin’s Q, 119
top ten countries
per Better Life Index, 25t
with longest life span, 34t
with lowest child mortality rates, 37t
with lowest income inequality, 40t
Tocqueville, Alexis de, 149
Tronstad, Kristian Rose, 154, 161
Trump, Donald, 6
trust levels, 27, 28, 53–54, 55–57, 74, 85, 182
Turkey, 48, 155
U
UCLA, 112
Understanding Cross-Cultural Management (Browaeys and Price), 45
unemployment, 7, 18, 21, 26, 64–65, 67, 83, 97, 99, 101–4, 131, 132, 152–55, 157, 159, 161–6
2, 185, 206n26
hidden, 97, 102–4
how much more a single-earner family would make by working than by collecting, 186t
unemployment rate by country or ethnic group, 65t
unemployment insurance, 160
United Kingdom, 34t, 37t, 46t, 114, 116, 138–39
United States, 4, 5, 6, 7, 12, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 28, 30–33, 36, 37n, 38, 40, 51, 52, 54–60, 63, 66, 69–70, 71, 74, 75, 86, 102, 110, 112, 114, 117, 139, 146–53, 155, 157, 158, 164, 165–66, 171, 185–88, 190–91, 196n1, 196n3, 199nn3–5, 200n14, 202n7, 203n9, 210n12
coffee consumption per person in the, 48t
difference in unemployment between high-educated native born and foreign born in, 157t
employment levels comparing foreign native born to foreign born in, 151t
GDP per capita in the, 63t
PISA scores of children of immigrants in, 164t
poverty rate within the, 66t
ranking on the Better Life Index, 25t
share of immigrants who self-identify as not in good health, 163
share of women managers in, 112t
total tax rate in 1960, 199n4
unemployment levels between low-educated native born and foreign born in, 153t
universal health care, 10, 18, 23, 28, 31, 34, 38, 162
upward mobility, 12, 60, 148, 150, 164–66, 184
U.S. Census, 62, 155
USS Monitor; USS Princeton, 61
V
value-added tax (VAT), 75–76
Van Zandt, Steven, 140
VC Reporter, 146
Venezuela, 2
Vietnam War, 90
Vikings, 109, 207n7
Vikings (HBO series), 108–9
Vikings in the Attic (Dregni), 59
Volvo, 88
Volvo Aero (formerly Nohab Flight), 98–99
voter support for Social Democrats and Socialists in Swedish elections, 7, 10g
voucher systems, 118, 189
Vox, 18
W–X
wages, 7, 74, 117, 118, 119, 120, 156, 159, 161, 178, 184
Waldenström, Daniel, 38
Wallace, Björn, 204n16
Wall Street Journal, 5, 190
War on Poverty, 129
Washington, George, 61
Washington Post, 168
Washington Times, 174
Weber, Max, 50
Welcome to Sweden (comedy show), 158
welfare. See in general chapter 8, “Generous Welfare Traps Families in Welfare Poverty” (pp. 125–45). See also welfare dependencyl welfare states
the most insidious effect of, 129
welfare dependency, 3, 8, 128, 129, 130, 131, 138, 139, 144, 154, 165, 171, 172, 175, 184, 192, 194
welfare states. See in general chapter 8 (pp. 125–45)
how benefits can reduce incentives to work and learn new skills, 159–60
levels of trust in, 57
Nordic success predates large. See chapter 2 (26–41)
role of, in social poverty, 144
southern European, 26–27
tendency to have rigid labor market laws, 151
the truth about equality and, 38–41
the truth about long life spans and, 31–35
the truth about low child mortality and, 35–37
West Germany, 114
Witte, Griff, 168
women. See chapter 7, “Why Are So Few Nordic Women at the Top?” (pp. 106–21)
managers, share of (by country), 112t
Women’s Business Research Institute, 114
workers in Europe “totally committed to their employer,” share of, 46t
work ethic(s), 5, 12, 13, 27, 28, 46, 49, 50, 54, 55, 59, 127, 128, 132, 133, 134, 135, 140, 145
World Economic Forum, 107
World Value Survey, 130–31, 158, 201n22
Y
young people (also the younger generation; young men, young women; youth), 71, 98, 134–35, 140, 144, 159, 172–73, 174, 204n16
Z
Zahidi, Saadia, 106–7