Nordic AffluenceINTERESTING study. Basically, this shows that European economies have tracked very poorly against US economy growth rates. The only thing that might be the out for the Scandinavians is that I'm not sure how government funded programs factored into their disposable incomes. If their disposable incomes WERE half as much, but they did not have to pay for school at any level, medical treatment at any level and so on, their ability to buy or do different things per disposable dollar might be much higher than represented here.One thing that irritates me about the original article is the following paragraph:
In Oslo, library collections are woefully outdated, and public swimming pools are in desperate need of maintenance. News reports describe serious shortages of police officers and school supplies. When my mother-in-law went to an emergency room recently, the hospital was out of cough medicine. Drug addicts crowd downtown Oslo streets, as The Los Angeles Times recently reported, but applicants for methadone programs are put on a months-long waiting list.I know that reporters are just trying to paint the background, but reporting like this is so subject to the whim of the author. If Oslo is really that destitute, then you can certainly put out some data indicating how what you describe above is the norm and not just your view from your apartment.