Megan McArdle om Danmark

Forleden skrev den glimrende Megan McArdle en artikel om Danmark og det danske samfund i Bloomberg. Baggrunden for Megans artikel var, at Danmark blev ved med at være et af temaerne i den amerikanske valgkamp. Som hun skriver:

Denmark showed up in American politics during the first Democratic primary debate in October 2015, when Senator Bernie Sanders cited it when asked about his vision of democratic socialism. “I think we should look to countries like Denmark, like Sweden and Norway, and learn what they have accomplished for their working people,” Sanders said.

Megan var derfor i København sidste efterår, hvor hun mødte en række folk til interview. Jeg brugte selv et par hyggelige timer sammen med hende, og hun besøgte bl.a. også Martin Ågerup. Artiklens konklusion er ret god:

So, sorry, conservatives: Denmark really does combine high wages with high employment, high taxes with prosperity, fiscal responsibility with high levels of government spending. No wonder leftists ask if policymakers couldn’t do something like that in the U.S.

But also … sorry, leftists. After a week in Copenhagen, the conclusion I came to is that no, they probably can’t. Not because the Danish model doesn’t work, but because it’s so very, very Danish.

Men, som Megan også skriver, “Danish social cohesion works great for Danes. It’s not so great, though, at doing another thing modern advanced economies need: Absorbing outsiders.” Hendes hovedpointe, smukt illustreret i historien om at hendes telefon blev stjålet og hvordan folk reagerede på det, viser tydeligt fordelene og en enkelt ulempe ved den skandinaviske tillid. Hele artiklen er et fremragende eksempel på, hvordan en outsider kan se ting i vores samfund, som vi måske tager for give tog overser hver dag. Uanset at man måske ikke er enig med hende i alle vurderinger, er Megans artikel stærkt anbefalet!

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