The Secret of The Scandinavian Economic Miracle

If you look at almost any list measuring human development around the world, you can be sure that Scandinavian countries are somewhere at the top. But what's their secret?

00:00 - Intro
01:01 - The Birth of the Nordic Model
02:31 - Part 1: The Welfare State
06:56 - Part 2: The Great Compromise
08:22 - Part 3: Social Trust
10:13 - The Origin of Social Trust

References, sources and further reading

Intro:

The Birth of the Nordic Model:

Part 1: The Welfare State

Part 2: The Great Compromise

Part 3: Social Trust

The Origin of Social Trust

[GunsNRosesAXL]

I moved to Copenhagen 13 years ago. Best decision of my life. The state helped me with free education, healthcare and support when i was out of job. Now i have proper job, paying high taxes, repaying all that dept to society. The middle class in Denmark is really strong and stands together.

[xAyad]

I love how nobody noticed that all of Sweden’s territory had a Danish flag in the beginning of the video. The memes write themselves.

[hitrapperandartistdababy]

Growing up as a Kid in Denmark you realise how lucky you are not to be born in a poor place like Africa. Being an adult you realize being born in the nordic country was closer to a blessing than pure luck.

I love living here. Could never imagine my home being anywhere other than scandinavia or the nordic countries as a whole. I’m danish yet I feel at home in Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Faroe Isles, Åland, Svalbard, Greenland and Finland.

Because we are the same regardless of language and government❤

[jerry]

Being born in these countries its pretty much the same as winning the lottery

[clinteastwood]

As a Finnish person, I'd say the main reason is pretty simple as to why Nordic countries are so well off financially and have the happiest people on the planet. We take care of each other. That's it.

We make sure everyone has equal opportunities for education, everyone has free health care and we don't prioritize making money as the number 1 goal in life. We prioritize everyone in society. If the people around you are happy, you are happy. Everyone's happy. While in America for example, the cradle of capitalism, life is all about the "Everything for me, nothing for you" mentality. That will not lead to a happy society. There will be people who are millionaries and people who make minimum wage. There's way more poverty, homelessness and crime in America than here. People actually trust each other here. Americans have never learned to take care of each other or trust each other. But in Nordic countries we don't see it like that. We seem to better realize that life is about finding true happiness from within yourself and the people around you, helping other people and learning to be a good person yourself. It's not about pursuing money, materialism, consumerism, privilege over others and trying to have a better life than the people around you.

But of course, Americans are always the most vocal to critize this way of life. But the results and stats speak for themselves. Life is better here.

I can only be proud of the things I've done in my life, and that's why I will never say that I'm proud to be Finnish because I had nothing to do with it. All I can say is I feel blessed and grateful that I was born into the best place on Earth.

[TheAnybanana]

Scandinavian countries: Sweden, Norway, Denmark
Nordic countries: Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland

Scandinavian and Nordic are not synonyms

[EnGammalAmazon]

I am half Swedish and half German born and raised in the US. I spent most of my 73 years in Washington and Oregon; two of the nicest places to live in the US. I moved to Sweden two years and brought my business with me. The best way to explain how the Nordic countries compare to the US, or any other country, is to ask two questions and consider the answers. First, "Is the quality of life better or worse in the Nordics?" Second, "Do the Nordics have more 'disposable income' at the end of the month or year?" They might be tough questions if you have not been to a Nordic country. The answer to both questions is a definite 'Yes.' Yes because you may pay more taxes, but you get far more for your money. I also think it is a far higher tax rate in the US than most people admit. There are so many hidden taxes that we forget about. There are also aspects of how the US tax structure puts a lot of the tax burden on the average citizen which in turn is a hidden tax benefit to large businesses. If you factored in the cost of our military budget into the cost of keeping oil flowing into the US, our fuel prices would be as high or higher than in the Nordics. The military budget is funded by all citizens which means that even if you do not have a car, you are paying for low fuel costs that then give manufacturers an advantage in shipping costs. Imagine if all manufacturers paid the real cost of fuel. There would be an incredible shift in manufacturing and logistics which would be a benefit to those that live in the urban areas. I am not saying that this is the only or best answer to the US's problems, but it is one of many things to consider.

[peterpearson]

as a socially aware expat Brit living in Denmark for the last 54 years I can only confirm your analysis of life in Scandinavia.I couldn't dream of moving back to England even without Brexit

[thetarasbulba]

Unfortunately, social trust is being eroded by excessive immigration from nations without a social trust foundation. More and more the benefits that the Swedish society has enjoyed are being exploited by new arrivals who find it difficult to make the integrational leap and do not reach the plateau where the benefits can be enjoyed without the need to abuse the system. The Scandinavian model has to be adjusted to account for this if it is to thrive in the future. (Not against people from everywhere finding hapiness in Sweden, only against people not understanding that when in Rome, you do as the Romans do.)
Leve Sverige, leve det!

[EnGammalAmazon]

The idea of 'Social Trust' is really quite simple and has been deeply woven into the Nordic culture over the centuries. So much of these countries is rural and forested, there were a lot of subsistence farmers living in small and rural areas. It was a very harsh life for many. If you broke your leg in the winter, your whole family could starve. Now, you might not be good friends with Fredrik next door, but if you broke your leg, he and his wife and kids would pitch in and cook something for you, carry in your firewood, milk the cow, and gather the eggs for you. Not because you were close friends, but because he knew that if it was him that had broken his leg, you and your family would be there to help. That is the real social contract. It fades so far into the background that most Swedes don't even recognize it. I share this with my neighbors often and they seem stunned that that is even there. It is kind of like wallpaper to them. They are so used to it that they don't even recognize that it is there. (As a side note, Sweden has had some of the ugliest wallpaper patterns on the planet and only now are they getting away from wallpaper and painting their interiors more soothing and interesting colors! But they have not forgotten to care for one another.) Also, I wrote this before 10:10 in the video. As far as the Church, well, I would say that the church may have done more to harm this quality than to have helped it. If the Church was such a strong influence, it would have continued to be a part of the present....and it is not.

[gangalo]

It’s easy to give a good impression of something if you leave out the negatives.
I’m living in Sweden and was born here so I do agree that it’s pretty great to live here. But there have been large social changes the last decade or two that has not been without its troubles. The disastrous results of the lack of integration policies is that social cohesion is on decline, which undermines the trust.

[nathannackdal]

man i actually feel more proud about my country sweden now after watching this video, when i mostly have been just tired of the people and the society. This is an important part of education right here

[ExplainedwithDom]

At 00:10, the flag for Sweden mistakenly shows a Danish flag. So embarrassed about that 😓

[parkerrosemary-itkr]

Thanks for this amazing information !! If you don't find a means of multiplying money, you will wake up one day to realise that the money you thought you had, has finished. Investment is key, I pray that anyone who reads this will be successful in life

[adam]

It's good that someone acknowledges the strong cultural and social factors that drive the Nordic model. Too many people IMHO focus on the high taxes and large welfare state. They didn't come from nowhere and require the consent of the electorate to be implemented. If the people didn't feel like it was a good deal for them a political party would come along promising something else and probably get elected.

[sgrdpdrsn]

As a Norwegian, I pay my taxes without complaining. I am so glad that I have almost free medicare and free school.

[seungkim]

I think it's important to know that most country have more population and has diverse race and ethnicity

[TheCasimir]

I dont know the historical reasons why it functions as well as it does, but id like to think it speaks to the nordic character. People are very honest and modest, we dont care for personal wealth in the same sense, and maybe that breeds a less corruptible system

[johnny]

An explanation for those of you outside the Nordic region:

Scandinavia:
Geographically: Scandinavia refers to the Scandinavian Peninsula, which includes the countries of Sweden and Norway. Parts of northern Finland can also be counted as part of the Scandinavian Peninsula in a geographical sense, but Finland is not considered part of Scandinavia in a cultural or historical sense.
Linguistically and Culturally: The term Scandinavia is often used to describe the three countries Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, as these countries have historical, cultural, and linguistic ties. The Scandinavian languages (Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish) are mutually intelligible to a large extent, meaning that speakers of one Scandinavian language can often understand the other two.

The Nordic Region:
Geographically and Politically: The Nordic region refers to a larger region that includes all the Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, as well as the three autonomous territories of Åland (belongs to Finland), the Faroe Islands (belongs to Denmark), and Greenland (also part of Denmark).
Cooperation: The Nordic countries have a longstanding cooperation within the framework of the Nordic Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers, which includes political, economic, and cultural initiatives.

Why are there both options?
Both terms have historical roots. Scandinavia originates from the Scandinavian Peninsula and the cultural and linguistic ties between Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. The Nordic region, on the other hand, is a broader term that encompasses all the Nordic countries and reflects the broader cooperation and shared values in this region.

In short, while Scandinavia focuses more on the historical and cultural ties between Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, the Nordic region encompasses a larger group of countries with broader cooperation and shared initiatives.

[lolcakekakelol]

As a Norwegian, paying high taxes doesn't matter, because even if your in the working class, your salory is pretty decent. And the thing that puzzles me the most when people complain about the concept of a tax-model for education, healthcare etc. is that theese things aren't free to begin with. You have to pay for them one way or another. Why should we trust private businesses more than public services? One has the incentive to make as much money as possible, by any means necessary. Unless we have a neo-liberalistic assumption that more money always means better services (which i think should go without saying is not always the case). The other is incentivized by their obligations to the public, and the quality of their services are strictly monitored and compared to that of other nations. In fact, education and healthcare are both well established institutions that experiment and innovate through internal processes and global communication/cooporation, which does not (in my opinion) make it comparable to most other services/businesses that often fail to innovate without a market competition. Therefore, i don't think there is much of a benefit making institutions like education and healthcare private. Im quite certain that i pay far less for my education and healthcare than for example an american, because the price of their insurance is designed to generate as much profit as possible (which is a lot since healthcare is arguably one of the most essential services there is). Yet i think you would be hard pressed to argue that Norwegian healthcare is generally worse than american healthcare with any statistical backing, unless your rich. And with the tax-model, everyone, even those who are down on their luck, will receive help to get them on their feet again, to be healthy and productive members of society, which benefits everyone.

I'm always happy to see non-Scandinavians (presumably) promote this model. As a scandinavian myself, i feel that i can see first hand all of the benefits of the model, yet simultaneously i would seem biased since im scandinavian, so my point of view is probably less credible to outsiders. And of course, like you said, it's not like this model is perfect in every way and there are certainly some cultural requirements for adopting such a model.