Green ethic integral to Nordic countries' economic success

At the IPI World Congress in Helsinki, Pär Nuder, former Minister of Finance for Sweden said he would explain the success of Nordic countries in six or seven points:

1. Open economies. Free traders in his genes. Free trade key since “back when”. No other countries -- except perhaps Netherlands -- have so many well-known international brands. Part of Nordic culture to be free traders.
2. Social democratic system. I believe in strong public finances. Much fight deficits and high inflation.
3. Human capital investment. Invest in people through education and R&D. We know we have to compete with more R&D.
4. Inclusive workforce. Natural conclusion. If you want a sustainable society, must mobilize whole work force, including women. Highest female participation in the labor force. World’s most generous parental leave. One percent of GDP (spent on childcare) delivers highest female participation in labor.
5. Green ethic. Back in the early 90s we introduced a CO2 tax. We lowered tax on labor, raised it on emissions.
6. Cooperation. Eternal conflict between work and capital. We are too small, we concluded to have labor conflicts. Our countries are very vulnerable to lack of peace on labor market, so we need organized, responsible, labor unions. We have social bridges for people to walk on. These social bridges mean that more people willing to accept the often painful adjustments of global market capitalism. You can have world's highest taxes if they promote not only equality and safety, but high growth. These could be adopted by other countries.

I had not known about point number five, the "green ethic." To think these guys had a CO2 tax back in the early 90s! Brilliant.

Read the whole panel discussion here.