"Harnessing the tension between "equity" and "efficiency" and achieving the optimal equilibrium between these policy objectives, has long been one of the major questions bedevilling economics and, more generally, political philosophy in liberal democracies but also beyond."

The Nordic Model is the 20th-century Scandinavian recipe for combining stable democracies, individual freedom, economic growth and comprehensive systems for social security. But what happens when Sweden and Finland – two countries topping global indexes for competitiveness, productivity,...