Bernie Sanders' wistful song about the socialism of Denmark sounds a little bit like someone dreaming of moving to a ski resort community after a vacation there. Life there most likely won't be what they thought.
In Bernie's case, he should consult with some experts on the subject. For his edification we've rounded up a few opinions from some very smart people.
James Arlandson asks: So What's Wrong with Socialism Anyway? Short answer: No one is smart enough or honest enough to be trusted with the authority to take property from some people and reward it to others.
Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein tells us this: Sorry Leftist Americans, Your Swedish Utopia Does Not Exist. Swedes have a high level of social trust, family values, a strong sense of work ethic, and social cohesion which goes back farther than the welfare state. These virtues don't seem to be so prevalent among American leftists which would make it difficult to achieve what Sweden has done. Furthermore, there's a trade off "between growth and prosperity on the one hand, and high taxes and social transfers on the other." It's either/or.
From Megan McArdle: U.S. Can't Import the Scandinavian Model. The U.S. system of economics, i.e., capitalism, rewards innovation. The Scandinavian countries rely on the resulting innovation to fuel their economies and feed their welfare state. It's a one way street.
Speaking of rewarding innovation, James Pethokoukis provides this insight: Study: No economy in the world rewards smart, skilled workers more than America’s. "I find particularly interesting the finding that (a) the return to skills is highest in America and lowest in Nordic-land, and (b) returns are higher in economies with more open, private-sector based labor markets."
Scott Sumner explains why progressives don't complain about the large trade deficit with Sweden in Race and progressivism, to wit:
Perhaps that's because when asked about their views on socialism, Sanders' supporters often point to the Nordic economies, even though these countries are actually highly capitalist economies with large welfare states. They didn't get rich with the sort of autarchic economic policies now fashionable on the American left. They relied on privatization, deregulation, free trade, large private multinational corporations and relatively low taxes on capital income.
Daniel W. Drezner has had enough. In Enough with the Scandinavians already he credits the theory that the cutthroat capitalism of the U.S., i.e., one which tolerates some, but now all, workers getting rich, generates the innovation that helps the entire world live better off and allows other countries the leeway to focus on income equality for their own citizens.
Finally, Kevin D. Williamson tells us that Bernie Sanders’s Denmark Comments Show He Doesn’t Even Understand His Own ‘Socialism’: "Never mind, for the moment, that neither of these batty old geezers has the foggiest idea of what’s going on in Denmark, or in the other Nordic countries. Denmark, like Sweden before it, has been engaged in a long campaign of reforming its famously generous welfare state. ... Denmark has been marching in the direction exactly opposite socialism for some time."
None of this matters, though. Today the Democrat party has calculated that it can buy votes with promises of free stuff. And their voters are being trained to support the candidate who promises the most.
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