- In one way, the HDI makes the impression of being an instrument designed to convince people that there’s more to high standards of living than material consumption, high national GDP/capita levels and successful corporations.
On the other hand, the HDI also indicates that capitalism is the way to go for a nation that really wants to develop.
The Scandinavian countries are often portrayed as PC and not seldom as Socialist (especially in the US), but if most Scandinavians are PC Socialists how come
- Norway has more dollar millionaires per capita than any other country (the vast majority of them have become millionaires by making capitalist investments in different free market contexts)
- The Scandinavian countries all have low corporate taxes compared to most other industrialized nations
- Sweden has produced more successful, capitalist multinationals in relation to its population than any other country
- The Scandinavian countries all belong to the nations with the most of economical freedom according to studies
Of course, one could argue that a capitalist nation in which a majority strives to develop their country in a Socialist direction houses a ‘Socialist’ population, but in that case Scandinavia is the opposite of ‘Socialist’ and has been so since, at least, around 1985-1990.