Why do so many people praise Bernie Sanders' policies? Don’t they know about the bad track record of socialism?

Bernie Sanders

If you are looking at the former Soviet Union, their Eastern European allies, Cuba, Vietnam and North Korea you will get the impression that socialism although good on paper it is difficult to run.

But the Northern European Nordics countries Norway, Denmark, Finland, and Sweden. Seem to be doing quite well. According to The Economist, “The Nordics cluster at the top of league tables of everything from economic competitiveness to social health to happiness”. They have avoided the problems of Southern Europe especially after the credit crisis and the US extreme inequality. There is free health and education and although they pay more tax, “a Swede pays tax more willingly than a Californian because he gets decent schools and free health care”.

These are the countries that Bernie is looking at, although there is less government involvement in saving failing companies. The government is focused on long term goals than short term gains. They are also focused on balancing the books, with a budget deficit of 0.3% (US - 7%). The issue of government transparency is at a different level, in Norway, everybody has access to everybody else tax returns. It is a public record “workers can see what their colleagues earn and neighbours can snoop on how much the people next door make - all legally and online”. In Sweden, everyone has access to public records. Hence the government operates in the “harsh light of day”.

But despite, this there is still trouble in paradise, 30% of the workforce is in the public sector and public spending as a proportion of GDP is high, people are worried whether it is sustainable. Levels of taxation force their bright and clever to move to greener pastures. A lot of people especially immigrants live off benefits and this is causing social problems. The EU has 7% of the world population but is responsible for 50% of its social spending and with ageing populations, this is likely to increase.

But on the whole, it seems to work for these countries and there is proof if slight changes are made they can inject market mechanisms to their welfare states making them more effective, less bureaucratic and more profitable. The Chinese are already looking at their models and why it is so successful.

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