Evil Geniuses: The Unmaking of America

by Kurt Andersen

The average Nordic person generates less economic output than the average American, 15 percent less in Denmark and Sweden—but they get more of the wealth they generate, on average. Moreover, Paul Krugman says analysis of those differences between our economy and theirs shows that “much of the gap represents a choice” and “in the case of Denmark, all of it.” That is, they work a little less on purpose.*5 Between laws requiring employers to give everyone five weeks for vacation and a year of paid leave to new parents, as well as the general cultural sanity concerning work, the average Nordic spends 20 percent less time on the job than the average American, giving them three to four hundred extra hours each year to do whatever they please. Since they don’t rack up college debt or pay onerous amounts for healthcare, they’re also able to put more away: the Danes save money at a rate more than three times that of Americans. They systematically chill and systematically share, embracing the inevitable new on the road to the future. Alas, we are not Denmark. Yet.