New book: Beyond the European Social Model

London-based think tank Open Europe have published a new book: Beyond the European Social Model. The book, which is available to down load free chapter-by-chapter or as a whole book (1.1Mb PDF), takes a critical view of the European Social Model - it argues that "the high-tax and highly regulated 'social model' is not working, and that the time has come for the EU and its member states to take a different approach." Here are the individual chapters:

Section 1: Is the Social Model working? If not, which policies are working in Europe?

Chapter 1. The Myth of the Scandinavian Model, Martin De Vlieghere
Chapter 2. The social failure of the European Social Model, Lorraine Mullally
Chapter 3. Will the European Social Model wreck the Irish miracle?, Constantin Gurdgiev
Chapter 4. Welfare State or Unfair State?, Johnny Munkhammar
Chapter 5. The European Social Model – One size doesn’t fit all, Chresten Anderson

Section 2: Lessons for reformers: the state of play and the way forwards

Chapter 6. Sex, Drugs and the Dutch Social Model, Eline van den Broek
Chapter 7. Social Tallies and Silicon Valleys, Meelis Kitsing
Chapter 8. Employment and welfare reform in the EU, Barry Watts
Chapter 9. The Better Regulation initiative and EU values, Malgosia Kaluzynska
Chapter 10. EU Regulation - lightening the load, Paul Stephenson

The authors are big fans of the Irish economy ("the efficient alternative"), and highly critical of the Scandinavian economies. I would take issue with several of their assertions. But agree or disagree with them, the book is a quick and provocative read.

UPDATE: Finnsense has a good critique of the book's chapter on The Myth of the Scandinavian Model. Here's a small taste:

A recurrent theme is just how crass his analysis is. He seems to have no taste for the subtleties of very small economies. As his graph admirably shows, Sweden and Finland took a massive and disproportionate hit in 1989 with the collapse of the Soviet Union, yet he doesn't mention that. He also fails to mention the various factors influencing the Irish boom. One of these is the vast amounts of EU cash pumped into the country over decades. Another is the outsourcing boom from the US, facilitated in no small part by the fact the Irish were a) very poor to begin with and b) speak English.

Read the whole thing.

Comments

[claus vistesen]

The printer is heating up as I type ... Good find!

I am looking forward to read it.

[hirvi]

Yes, it's provocative, and one could disagree with many of its assertions - at least to the point I read to, which was about page 30, after which I binned it.

Ireland, of course, is a great success today, and one can be very happy for them considering the state they were in before they joined the EU (and long before that, needless to say).

But it has been one of the few major net recipients of EU aid. I'm not criticising their corporate tax policy, far from it: but if other countries are paying for their development, they can probably afford lower taxes, no?

Or can they? - because they have one of the very highest child poverty rates in the developed world.

This contrasts strongly with Finland, which comes under criticism in the erm.... outburst above. Finland has the lowest or second lowest child poverty rate in the developed world.

And it's all very well for them to claim Finland hasn't created any jobs since 1981, but as Krugman says, lying with statistics can be a matter of choosing the time-frame. Because in fact, Finland had very many jobs wiped out by the crash of the USSR, and unemployment 10 years ago was around 20% - today it is well under half that. Who else has more than halved their rate in 10 years? - it can't be many.

Finland has a budget surplus, a current account surplus, falling unemployment, an above EU-average growth rate, a below EU-average inflation rate, and very good indicators from a social perspective.

Yet we are criticised for being 'laggards'.

Now you know why I only read to page 30 or so, because it's all too predictable what they said everyone else.

[finnsense]

Hirvi makes good points about the first of the chapters. I make similar points and more on my blog. I am afraid this book is not an honest attempt at really understanding the situation but rather a deliberate attempt to push a particular agenda. There is no balance at all. It is a prime exmple of research done with the conclusions very firmly in place beforehand.

Having said that, I don't think the Nordic model would suit everyone and certainly not the US (if there is a "Nordic model" at all beyond a shared interest in equality of opportunity).

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