Viking economics: How Nordic nations debunk a Scott Morrison mantra

But first, the travelogue. Prosperous countries have a lot in common but Scandinavia is different. I have seen the future and, while some might regard it as political correctness gone mad, it looked pretty good to me.All of them have had female prime ministers or presidents, they have loads of female politicians and we were always seeing women out at business functions with their male colleagues.Governments spend much more on childcare and they’re big on men actually taking paid paternity leave.

They’re obsessed with organic food and even hotel guests are expected to recycle their paper and plastic. One hotel we stayed at in Copenhagen was so concerned to save the planet its policy was to make up the rooms only every fourth day. Everyone in the English-speaking economies knows big government is the enemy of efficiency. The less governments do, the better things go. The lower we can get our taxes, the more we’ll grow.

Measured by GDP per person, Norway's standard of living is well ahead of America's. Then come the Danes and the Swedes – at around the average for 18 developed democracies – with the Finns just beating out the Brits and the French further down the list.We all know unions are bad for jobs and growth and we’ve succeeded in getting our rate of union membership down to 17 per cent. Funny that, the Nordics still have the highest rates , so, do they have lots of strikes? No.

1RossGittins For pity’s sake. Nordic countries are about the size of Tasmania in area. What about the mainland? Do Nordic countries have a continent to deal with? Do any of them have the massive coastline, the lack of water, the great distances? Stop this irrelevant midget/giant comparison.

1RossGittins We get high taxes and...well that’s it.

1RossGittins I live in Norway, very similar to Australia in regards to abundance of natural resources. Only difference being Norway tax big energy players 78%!! Money that is then saved in a future fund for all citizens, unlike Australia where the tax rate is a measly 30%

1RossGittins The moral of the story is that the cause and effect relationship many jump to draw often doesn't exist, except in the minds of the preachers and believers of simple explanations for realities which are often too complex to fit into mantras and slogans.

1RossGittins Yes this works for small populations. But when the fed wants to control every little thing in a 100-300 million population nation, the nanny state is overburdened

1RossGittins Let's take it one step further. 100% tax. That is what you really want, a absolute monarchy with you as the benevolent leader 🤔

1RossGittins Don't just 'glance' and look away. Pursue Morrison on it. He is wrong and leading us down the clearly failed USA model of low tax, small gov. Make him defend it and we will see he can't. USA is a basket case and Morrison is wrong to copy them.

1RossGittins here our LNP leaders r mates with d rich They want tax cuts so our lapdogs politicians r just doing what they r told In Nordic countries MPs r not bondoogled by millionaires there

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