Scandinavian Unexceptionalism


Book Description

This book is important to help an international audience understand the cultural peculiarities behind the Scandinavian “success story”. It is also vital that Scandinavians themselves read this book to help them understand the market reforms that are essential for a successful future.







The Nordic Model and Its Influence in the 21st Century


Book Description

This book explains why the Nordic Model retains its influence, especially on the Anglo-American left, notwithstanding internal problems.




Scandinavian Design and its Philosophical Underpinnings to a Social Democracy


Book Description

Modernism and principles of Functionalism came to prominence in Scandinavia during the early 20th century, becoming influential in shaping the distinct character of Scandinavian Design as we recognize today. Through text, photographs, and info-graphics; we examine the unique historical and political phenomena of Scandinavia to gain a broader understanding of the rise of social democracy in the region and its pertinence to the philosophical underpinnings of a national design identity.




Freedom or Equality


Book Description

Capitalism offers greater prosperity and opportunity for everyone, while socialism, unnecessary interventionism, and other choices inevitably fail. But capitalism is quickly falling out of favor with the middle class in the Western world. Fortunately, it can be fixed. The next decades will present numerous challenges: exponentially accelerating technology and use of robots, an aging population, repressive taxation, and the sustainability of education and health care costs—to name just a few. Freedom or Equality addresses those challenges while presenting a fresh examination of Social Capitalism—a moderate option between extreme solutions of all sorts that can deliver superior growth and prosperity worldwide.




Classical Liberalism – A Primer


Book Description

This primer aims to provide a straightforward introduction to the principles, personalities and key developments in classical liberalism. It is designed for students and lay readers who may understand the general concepts of social, political and economic freedom, but who would like a systematic presentation of its essential elements.




Sport, Outdoor Life and the Nordic World


Book Description

Sport, Outdoor Life and the Nordic World explores the Nordic model of sport and outdoor life with respect to such issues as sport facilities, mountain guiding, women and ethnic minorities, urban planning, anti-doping, health, elite sport coaching and leadership, and the globalization of sport. The aims of the volume are twofold. First, it advances knowledge of Nordic sport and outdoor life, as important fields of social activity in their own rights. Second, it enhances the understanding of the ‘Nordic model’ of society, and the ways in which this is constructed, explored and challenged within and through sport and outdoor life activities. In doing so, the contributors explore a range of key themes, notably: how modern Nordic sport and outdoor life activities emerged and are organized through specific social policies; how they may challenge or harbour forms of social exclusion, particularly in regard to gender or minority populations; how they are affected by, and respond to, deviant practices such as doping; how they may contribute to alleviating social problems; and how they confront major structural challenges and changes, such as the impacts of globalization and the continuing dominance of neoliberal economic policies. Interdisciplinary in approach, Sport, Outdoor Life and the Nordic World is essential reading for those studying Nordic sports and societies, and will also appeal to students, academics and wider readers with interests in sport studies, sociology, social policy, cultural studies, anthropology and public health. The chapters were originally published as a special issue of Sport in Society.




Nordic Model Analyses:


Book Description

The crux of this book is that it can help build Vision and processes for improvementsby stances on positive development syndromes versus special interests scenarios. That may even open up to serendipity. In contrast, there are specific econometric models and adjacent historic data, which lack contact with todays diverse events of real life, i.e., behavioural aspects and the risk of changes. It is much too easy to build a scenario based on game theory and/or accepting others algorithm based on interpretation of behaviour and risk of changes defined by so-called elasticities. By embracing the financial economy, a ring of well-positioned econometricians has gained power Worldwide, especially in small Nordic countries, where seeking consensus based on historic data is a common practice. New insight tends to arrive too late; unforeseen events will continue to surprise. Such countries are easily exploited by elite circulation and fragmentation of decision making benefiting special interests. The GAP between the financial and the real economy will grow. Hidden agendas and asymmetric information will thrive. The results are losses of resources plus disintegration for a large majority of enterprises and citizens. One may say that the demise of the old-fashioned Nordic model is embedded in the gullibility of its inmates. They look up to authorities and lack the needed oversight, agility, and sense of urgency to adapt and change. To rock the boat and reinvent the Nordic model is much needed. It can be attained by focusing on the real economy and the behaviour of its inmates.




Taxation, Government Spending and Economic Growth


Book Description

Amidst the debates about ‘austerity’ a number of vital debates in public finance have been sidelined. Because the reductions in government spending – small though they have been so far- have been designed to reduce the government’s borrowing requirement, there has been little discussion of whether the size of the state should be reduced in order to facilitate long-run reductions in the burden of taxation. This book traces the history of the growth of the size of the state over the last 100 years whilst also making international comparisons. There is a particular focus on recent and projected future developments which shows that, though the total level of government spending has not decreased significantly in recent years, there has been a big redirection of spending from some areas to others. The authors then examine the evidence on the relationship between taxation and economic growth. As well as reviewing recent literature, they also undertake new modelling that higher taxes are detrimental for growth. In the final part of the book, the whole UK tax system is reconsidered in a proper economic framework. The UK has one of the world’s most complex tax systems and its incoherence has increased over the last five years. Sweeping reforms are proposed to the system which wold involve abolishing around 20 taxes and the development of a simple, predictable tax system based on principles that should gain wide acceptance.




Nordic Economic Policy Review


Book Description

The Nordic Economic Policy Review is published by the Nordic Council of Ministers. This year’s issue is part of the Danish presidency programme for the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2015. The review addresses policy issues in a way that is useful for in-formed non-specialists as well as for professional economists. All articles are commissioned from leading professional economists and are subject to peer review prior to publication. The review appears once a year. It is published electronically on the website of the Nordic Council of Ministers: www.norden.org/en. On that website, you can also order paper copies of the Review (enter the name of the Review in the search field, and you will find all the information you need).