I'm talking about much more infrastructure than just broadband. They have good public health-care systems, public transportation systems, etc. --- not just good intentions, but good results. What reason is there to believe that they won't do public broadband just as well?
> I'm talking about much more infrastructure than just broadband. They have good public health-care systems, public transportation systems, etc. --- not just good intentions, but good results. What reason is there to believe that they won't do public broadband just as well?
Taken as a whole, they are considerably poorer on average than US citizens (especially professionals of the calibre seen on HN). I'm not convinced, based on their self-reported claims of excellence, that their policies, if emulated, would make the USA more prosperous or more pleasant to live for the average person. I think this is doubly true for the intelligent and motivated.
I have no illusions about how much 'average' in the USA is, but I also have no illusions about how much 'average' is in Scandinavian counties are, either. Commodity prices are somewhat higher there, which when adjusted against their income actually makes them somewhat poorer than US citizens, kind of like how $50k in New York City won't get you as far as $50k in Seattle.
That's plausible, though there are a lot of factors and some subjectivities. Most retail goods cost more, but you also get some miscellaneous stuff free or heavily subsidized. For example, in Denmark, it's easier to get around without a car, you don't have to pay for health insurance, the state provides some degree of free child care, etc., all of which adds up to a decent amount of savings, especially for poorer people (for whom those things tend to account for a larger proportion of their budget). I think Scandinavia definitely wins on the lower-class end: a 25th-percentile-income family in Denmark, is probably much better off than a 25th-percentile-income family in the US. I'm not sure what the comparison would come out as at the 50th percentile. It might depend on where exactly in Scandinavia and the U.S. you are, and answers to some lifestyle-preference questions (for example, do you actively prefer having a car, or do you actively prefer being able to get away without having a car?). At the top end, the U.S. diverges increasingly above.
