From an MSNBC article by Glenn Reynolds about the situation in Sweden:
It’s almost as if high taxes, heavy regulation, and an extensive dole sap people’s desire to work hard, making the society as a whole worse off so that those policies don’t just redistribute wealth, but actually destroy it. That’s probably because they do, and have done so everywhere they’re tried. People are usually pointing to some socialist paradise or other where life is wonderful, but — not to put too fine a point on it — those places are basically a lie. Socialism just doesn’t work, anywhere, for very long. You’d think people would learn.
One of the unfortunate things that happens under socialism is that people have fewer children. (This is a bug. For a while it was seen as a feature, but with the world now facing a global baby bust, it’s a bug.) This disturbing essay from The Belmont Club spells out what Europe’s demographic collapse means. I think it’s a bit on the pessimistic side — but the Europeans had better hope that I’m right about that. And we Americans should be very grateful that we didn’t follow the Swedish model. Socialism produces shortages — and in Sweden’s case, apparently, it’s even managed to produce a sex shortage among the formerly randy Swedes. Which just proves that too much government can ruin anything, given enough rope.
Indeed. Read the full article for details.