@djc Apparently by whatever that’s measuring Finland’s welfare state has grown more generous. Lots of Swedes lament the retrenchment of social democracy during neoliberalism. Norway is of course Norway. In any case, Nordic social democracy is not a particular number. It is first and foremost a commitment to a universalism of positive rights, backed by an ethos of solidarity and reciprocity. Everybody must have access to the basics of a decent life and to complements to social contribution.

@djc Very arithmetic notions of egalitarianism would have tons of means testing. Take from the rich, give to the poor, maximize arithmetic equality per dollar taxed. But arithmetic egalitarianism is dumb, inhuman. Egalitarian means equal participation, equal dignity. It does not mean uniformity in every outcome, including income or wealth. It should (unfortunately in the Nordics does not) foreclose differences in wealth so great that political equality becomes a sham.

@djc But there is no great contradiction between Nordic universalism and the “capitalist” side of Nordic social democracy. They complement one another. Arithmetically, universal benefits promote equality in an incentive preserving way. Adding a large constant number to everybody’s variable “capitalist” income reduces variation.

@djc (You’ll note in that thread the declines are attributed to less generous unemployment and pension benefits. Those are actually difference preserving, rather than difference reducing benefits. With less of them, people fall back more quickly on more universally identical benefits. I’m not arguing that threadbare unemployment insurance is “good”! What goods, including protection from what kinds of rich, a society should define as universal is an open conversation with lots of nuance.

@djc But a decent society ensures a decent basic, no matter what, and the Nordics still do that. Nordic wealth inequality is high, due to the basic political settlement that enabled social democracy. That’s fine. Nordics should do a better job of preventing plutocratic wealth accumulation though. There as here, every billionaire is a policy failure, and they have too many.

@djc We all should think less about means testing at the bottom and more about means testing at the top, to prevent the emergence of caste and influence.)