Well, I hope you enjoyed following me on my last trip to Berlin & the Nordic countries. I'm planning on heading back again in 2019. I was watching this excellent YouTube video today by Evan Thomas titled, '10 things Americans love about Sweden', and he made an excellent point that for such a small country Sweden makes such a big impact on the world. The same can be said for all the Nordic countries - Finland, Norway, Denmark & Iceland. For example, Finland is renowned as having the world's best education system. Denmark is famous for bringing joy to millions of children with Lego. Iceland is a hot tourist destination at the moment. Norway has a one trillion dollar sovereign wealth fund, & stunning natural beauty.
What I love about the Nordic countries I visited is the people - they have really good values. The Nordic countries are the least corrupt countries in the world (see the Transparency Index) - in general the people are honest, hardworking, reliable, & not pretentious. This modesty or unpretentiousness is symbolised in Sweden by the Law_of_Jante (click the link for more information). This is why ostentation if frowned upon, and might explain the minimalism in fashion & interior design. The practical effect is that the Nordic countries are well governed, money is not wasted on flashy things of no value to the community, & it allows their economies to be more productive as corruption is a huge transaction cost. Hence, why the Economist call the Nordic countries, The next supermodel of government - https://www.economist.com/leaders/2013/02/02/the-next-supermode
So, basically if you are an average person then you have really won life's lottery if you happen to be born in the Nordic countries with an extensive social safety net, good free education, and excellent social mobility. If you are born a women in the Nordic countries you will experience the highest gender equality in the world. Australia still has a long way to go in relation to gender equality, & the Nordic countries are the benchmark on this issue.
As I noted Norway has a one trillion dollar sovereign wealth fund. Australia has just had the biggest mining boom in our history, and we are half a trillion dollars in government debt, and have a huge housing bubble that is now deflating rapidly. In effect we wasted the boom bidding each others houses up. In comparative terms Australia could have had a three trillion dollar sovereign wealth fund to shield us from the next recession. That's a lesson Australia could have learned from Norway.
So, what things do you love about the Nordic countries? Please let me know in the comments below.
