Posted on 06/30/2009 1:07:35 PM PDT by WesternCulture
Scandinavia of today has, to a great deal, abandonded Socialism.
Yes, Nordic taxes still lead the world, but so do Nordic companies.
In several fields.
Not only in the domain of cheap furniture and safe cars.
Today, (Finnish) Nokia and (Swedish) Ericsson might well decide our common IT future to a larger degree than IBM and Microsoft do.
Perhaps, Capitalism is a force so strong it could even survive European Socialism. I'm an optimist regarding my corner of the Eart. I feel the vast majority of the Scandinavians are beginning to realize companies like Lego, Electrolux and ABB buy us more Volvos and BMWs than our government employed bureaucrats do..
The article:
"Sweden's former state-owned enterprises have become more profitable and effective when privatised, according to a report from the Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications (Näringsdepartementet).
The report, authored by Henrik Jordahl of the Research Institute of Industrial Economics, concludes that there are significantly more profits to be made for state-owned companies and employees by transitioning to private ownership – especially in conjunction with competitiveness-boosting reforms.
Minister for Local Government and Financial Markets Mats Odell backs Jordahl's findings.
“Sales of state-owned enterprises undertaken by the government during this term have had positive effects for the public purse and to strengthen government finances,” Odell said in a statement.
The report also states that few studies have been done showing the effect of privatisation in Sweden.
“Despite comprehensive privatisation under both centre-right and Social Democratic governments since the beginning of the 1980s, there is a dearth of more comprehensive academic studies. This is a largely an uncharted area for Swedish academics that I believe deserves to be studied,” said Odell."
The Global Capitalist awareness League:
Japan: 56 points (comment: take your plastic Corollas and Infinitys elsewhere!)
France: 55 points (comment: time flies, Airbuses crash)
Germany: 56 points (comment: always a little bit superior to the French)
Italy: 56 points (comment: Just like France, but somewhat better pizza ingredients due to a better climate)
Great Britain: 58 points (comment: a nice country recently governed by Thatcher, but will hardly become great again)
Scandinavia: 59 points (comment: more of successful multinationals than Germany, credits Socialism for this)
The US: 59 points (comment: the most powerful Capitalist economy on Earth, but still has to survive Obama)
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