Democrats point to Nordic nations as models of socialism. Here’s how they actually work.

6/25/19
 
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from The Washington Post,
6/24/19:

Socialism — pro or con — is the hot issue in Democratic circles as the party’s candidates for president prepare to debate this week.

To the obvious objection that socialism failed catastrophically in Venezuela and the Soviet Union, Democratic democratic socialists have a ready response: Our model is the thriving nations of northern Europe.

“I think that countries like Denmark and Sweden do very well,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) told an Iowa audience in April. “My policies most closely resemble what we see in the U.K., in Norway, in Finland, in Sweden,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) told CBS’s “60 Minutes” in January.

Undoubtedly, the Nordic nations, with their high incomes, low inequality, free politics and strong rule of law, represent success stories. What this has to do with socialism, though, is another question.

And the answer, according to a highly clarifying new report from analysts at JPMorgan Chase, is “not much.”

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