We Swedes drive more expensive cars and reside in better built homes than any other people on Earth do (and we pay for our own defence too!).
But this matters little in terms of real standards of living.
Nice summer homes are great, but the ability to fend off any other nation is better:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Khaa3y0i87s
“As an adversary, how good are you at what you do?”
“Very, very good.”
...and what precisely makes your homes any better constructed than those in Alaska or New Hampshire?
Sweden has a summer? Must be long enough to grow tomatoes. Usually about 40 days or so if I recall.