It isn’t really fair to compare the USA to Norway or Finland. The USA is so much bigger that it is more appropriate to compare it to the EU as a whole; a continental entity, not a small nation sized one. Using that comparison US performance stacks up quite nicely against Europe.
If we cherry-pick the most prosperous and advanced parts of the US, we get results similar to those of Japan or Norway.
In addition, since WWII the US has largely carried the burden of defending the rest of the world. Europe has increasingly bailed out of this responsibility, leaving a significant portion of their GDP to be reinvested in more profitable ventures or used to support non-productive welfare services. The welfare states of western Europe have therefore to a considerable extent been subsidized by the US and its evil defense sector.
“It isn’t really fair to compare the USA to Norway or Finland. The USA is so much bigger that it is more appropriate to compare it to the EU as a whole; a continental entity, not a small nation sized one. Using that comparison US performance stacks up quite nicely against Europe.”
- It would, indeed, be unfair to point solely at Switzerland, the French Riviera or Scandinavia and claim Europe, as a whole, is “more successful” than the US economy wise. This would, of course, involve a big lie.
But does that mean population size is an disadvantage in the field of building a prosperous, well ordered society?
I’d say it isn’t. Sooner, I claim the Scandinavian countries of Norway and Sweden are handicapped by their small populations spread out over their (comparatively) large territories.
There are large countries that are rich; like Germany, Japan and USA and there are also small countries that are well off like Switzerland, Denmark and Luxembourg.
I’m NOT saying Europe is more successful in terms of economy than the US - the US wins that race - but I AM saying there are several societal concepts that have proven successful.
People who view the Scandinavian countries as “Socialist” fail to understand important aspects of Scandinavian culture and history.
While Europeans suffered under the yoke of Feudalism, Scandinavians were running their own farms.
There is a reason why we are richer and more successful (in per capita terms) in the game of Capitalism than any other part of the world.