Chapter 4: Scandinavia today: An economic miracle?

This chapter looks in detail at the macroeconomic performance of Denmark, Finland and Sweden. Finland and Sweden have achieved high output growth but less satisfactory employment growth. Denmark has been less successful in terms of output growth, but labour market performance has been impressive. The question is whether the Scandinavian economic model represents a role model for the rest of Europe that is able to combine economic efficiency with social justice. The conclusion is that the Scandinavian experiences show that an improvement of macroeconomic performance in European countries requires marketliberal reforms, but that already limited reforms can produce significant results, still leaving in place a system very different from the Anglo-Saxon ones.