Natural Step?

Now this is something we could adopt from Sweden. I wish I could look to the future & feel the same optimism that the Swedes feel. I'm with the majority who feel the U.S. is on the wrong track. 73% of those polled feel this way. Less than a quarter of Americans think we are on the right track. What does that tell us? Not much mystery here.

Under a deal between bosses and labor unions, she and some of the 450 other workers who switched off the lights in December will remain on full pay for 12 months, she said. Then she will qualify for unemployment benefits worth 80 percent of her salary. In the meantime, a private company sponsored by Swedish employers is helping her retrain and recover from the shock of losing her job. "I have learned to be self-confident," she said. "I am not worthless."

At a time when major nations in Continental Europe — France and Italy in particular — are questing in vain for release from the economic doldrums, Mrs. Nordstrom's confidence does not seem misplaced.

The Swedish economy is set to grow by 3.7 percent this year — almost twice the rate forecast even for Germany, the only one of the big Continental European economies showing signs of confidence. Unemployment, though higher than the Social Democratic government admits, is still lower than the nearly double-digit joblessness of France or Germany.

Yet, defying conservative American beliefs, the economy prospers — even though taxes here remain high and big government administers cradle-to-grave social programs that absorb more than half of the national output.

It is called the Nordic model. The question some Europeans are asking is: Would it work farther south, in Germany or France, or even Italy?
....

"Our job is to create a society where people are protected and suffer as little as possible and get new chances in society with education and training," Mr. Goransson said. "There's a social charter, a social contract. There's a general peace contract in Sweden. There's a general culture of problem-solving instead of fighting."

Indeed, as in purchasing their homegrown Volvos, Swedes are prepared to pay top dollar for the safety features: income taxes peak at 55 percent. Traditionally, too, Sweden and other Scandinavian lands have drawn economic benefit from policies that bring women into the work force far more than in some other European countries.

Emphasis added.