Europe is where it's at. Happiest countries study.

I agree, this part of Europe is my most enjoyable to visit! Copenhagen is my favorite city to visit. Tivoli is the oldest amusement park in the world! I hope to spent the Christmas Holidays there someday.

I have a standing offer to do a postdoc in Denmark next year after I graduate. I've never really left the US so I'm a little afraid to go, but at the same time think it would be an awesome experience.

Going galt = going stupid? What a fricking clown. Norway has outstanding public debt that's half of gdp. Oh and yeah, they have that sovereign wealth fund thing that's second only to the Persian Gulf states and China, and ahead of everyone else by a factor of 2.

That they're not broke because they have a bank account that's worth $600 billion dollars and its not generated from "other people's money."

Second guy and yes.

Well I mean you can say that about literally any large economy on the planet in relation to any other large economy, that's macroeconomics. So goes the EU so goes the US in general terms. So goes China so goes the US and the EU, in general terms. What makes Norway specifically different from the EU (microeconomics) is that their economy is much more levered to oil prices than any other euro country, its like the 3rd or 4th largest producer outside of the ME and Russia. So goes oil prices, so goes Norway; what the EU does has much less of a bearing on them from a micro level. This is bearing itself out right now and will over the next few years.

eta: Norway 2011 real gdp growth: 2.9; EU27 1.5. Brent crude jan 2011: 96, brent crude dec 2011: 108.

etaa: But yeah the happiness index thing = crap for sure.

Absolutely, I was just referring to Norway given the direction of the thread. Certainly you're spot on regarding the others, and it will be interesting (to me) to see how different countries economies perform relative to others and the EU as a whole as the soveriegn issues continue to play out. For the last 2 years there's not been much to go on as global growth seems to have supported most of them (via Ger or whatever).

Norway -- A country of 5 million living with a very well-governed accounting of a natural resource windfall from North Sea oil. They are to be commended for this, as most countries will get this wrong.

The Netherlands -- Historically speaking, the birthplace of capitalism, as around the year 1600 both England and the Netherlands started joint-stock trading companies. The English won the naval wars of the 17th century (taking NYC in the process), but the Dutch still have a very strong legacy of being an urbanized zone of free trade ports (with ~17 million people) near the mouths of the Rhine River Valley, which serves as the German industrial heartland. I'd say that Holland is probably like an older, more liberal, more complacent version of Singapore ... although I've never actually been there.

Denmark -- I'd say that this is definitely the most interest case of the three, because much like Sweden, it does genuinely seem to offer up an alternative to many of the supply-side principles for structuring a prosperous economy. On the one hand, it's small (only about 5.7 million people), largely maritime, and in excellent position to exploit free trade opportunities among its prosperous neighbors (Germany, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, & the U.K.), for which it seems to form a sort of hub. Also, it has no minimum wage and a very high ranking for "ease of doing business."

On the other hand, it has small military commitments, few immigrant conclaves, very high taxation, and tends toward economic stagnation in terms of GDP per capita. The people seem really happy though, so it's an open question at this point if the Denmark-Sweden model is (A) a temporary window of paradise caused by quirky and temporary post-WWII geopolitics; or (B) a sustainable model for political governance that can be held up as a timeless model.

Only time will tell. It'll be really interesting to see what those two countries look like in about 30 or 40 years.

I have relatives in Sweden, and I've been there a few times. The people there are very happy and healthy. They get taxed a shite ton, but they also have very nice parks, public transportation, free higher education and healthcare. People also get a ton of vacation too..in July there's lots of people taking vacation and traveling. Most get off like 6 weeks.