Peter Baldwin, global distinguished professor at New York University, is the author of “The Narcissism of Minor Differences: How America and Europe Are Alike.”

Can the United States be more like Denmark, or any of the other Scandinavian nations? Indeed, it can so long as Americans are willing to follow a few simple steps.

To be more like a Scandinavian country, Americans would need to pay more in taxes, and that tax burden would fall predominantly on the middle class.

First and foremost, Americans would need to pay more in taxes, and that tax burden would fall predominantly on the middle class. Marginal tax rates as high as the U.S. rate kick in at a much lower income level in Scandinavian countries. For instance, in Denmark, plumbers pay the same 50 percent income tax as hedge fund managers. And there’s also a 25 percent value added tax on most purchases (180 percent on car purchases), far above the 7 percent average sales tax in most states.

Pretax income per capita is 23 percent higher in the U.S. than in Denmark. And because so much is raised from consumption taxes, in general things are more expensive in Scandinavian countries. For example, a beer in Denmark will cost you 75 percent more in than in the U.S., a coffee a third more, a dozen eggs 40 percent more. Housing in Denmark is also more expensive than in the U.S. and on average homes are smaller.

Danish university students have their tuition paid for them by the state. But there is no choice between public and private institutions. Nor do students have the same freedom to study what they please as in the U.S. Students apply to study a specific subject. None of this liberal arts nonsense about the nation needing well-rounded citizens. And how hard it is for high school graduates to study the subject of their choice depends on whether the Ministry of Education thinks the country needs more graduates in that field. The government adjusts the G.P.A. requirement for admission depending on how many majors it anticipates needing.



So can we be more like Scandinavia? Yes. Will we? Unlikely.



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