hi faul,
though you (and doubtless others) have abused the system, the funny thing is it continues to generate wealth and to survive crises like the current one relatively intact.
per capita gdp (ppp) puts them around 13th in the world.
unemployment runs 7.3% which is better than the US currently and far better than the european average.
their neighbours in norway run a fairly similar model, and their per capita gdp is even higher while running 3% unemployment and having greater social mobility than the us.
considering everything, i'd say the scandinavian model has worked pretty well.
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