Edward Conard

Top Ten New York Times Bestselling Author

  • “Unintended Consequences should be read by anyone who takes for granted the superiority of progressive taxation and has not thought carefully about the trade-offs involved.” - The New Republic
Upside of Inequality Unintended Consequences Oxford
BUY THE BOOKS
  • Macro Roundup
  • Highlights
  • Blog
  • OpEds
  • Reviews
  • About
    • About the Author
    • About the Books
    • Read Excerpts
    • Read the Reviews
    • Debates
    • Media and TV
  • Topics
    • All Media Appearances
    • Productivity
    • Monetary Policy
    • Banking
    • Politics
    • Upside endnotes
    • Stuff Ed’s Assistant Thought He Might Like
  • Contact
  • twitter
  • facebook
  • youtube
  • linkedin
  • Advanced SearchChoose Categories To Search Within
    • Close Advanced Search
Edward Conard

Advanced Search

No Surprise, Scandinavians Earn Much More in U.S. Than Homeland (Tyler Cowen)

My upcoming book, The Upside of Inequality: How Good Intentions Undermine The Middle Class, quotes from statistics updated in Nima Sanandaji’s just-released book, Debunking Utopia: Exposing the Myth of Nordic Socialism. Tyler Cowen reports: 

“Danish-Americans have a measured living standard about 55 percent higher than the Danes in Denmark. Swedish-Americans have a living standard 53 percent higher than the Swedes, and Finnish-Americans have a living standard 59 percent higher than those back in Finland. Only for Norway is the gap a small one, because of the extreme oil wealth of Norway.

Of the Nordic groups, Danish-Americans have the highest per capita income, clocking in at $70,925. That compares to an U.S. per capita income of $52,592, again the numbers being from 2013. Sanandaji also notes that Nordic-Americans have lower poverty rates and about half the unemployment rate of their relatives across the Atlantic.”

Cowen concludes, “It is difficult, after seeing those figures, to conclude that the U.S. ought to be copying the policies of the Nordic nations.”

[Note that if Danish-Americans earn 55% more than Danes, then Danes earn $45,800—less than the $52,600 earned by Americans.]

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

© Copyright 2023 Coherent Research Institute · All Rights Reserved

 

Loading Comments...