Viking Economics: How the Scandinavians Got It Right-and How We Can, Too [Paperback]

Liberals worldwide invoke Scandinavia as a promised land of equality, while most conservatives fear it as a hotbed of liberty-threatening socialism. But the left and right can usually agree on one thing: that the Nordic system is impossible to replicate elsewhere. The US and UK are too big, or too individualistic, or too . . . something.
 
InViking Economics—now with a new afterword by the author—George Lakey dispels these myths. He explores the inner-workings of the Nordic economies that boast the world’s happiest, most productive workers, and explains how, if we can enact some of the changes the Scandinavians fought for surprisingly recently, we, too, can embrace equality in our economic policy. George Lakey has for decades reminded us what a powerful tool nonviolence is, and in this book focused on Scandinavia shows us how nonviolent tactics and brilliant organizing won enduring changes in four countries' governance and economy and, more than that, the values and beliefs about what is just, fair, good, and possible. This book is an adventure and a field manual for our moment.” —Rebecca Solnit, Activist and historian, Harper’s contributor, author ofHope in the Dark

“Here, Lakey combines historical analysis, economic data and interview-based opinion to produce something that delivers much more than each of those could do in isolation. As a result,Viking Economicstells a story of economic change and the foundations on which it was built at a time when it is so obvious that such narratives are desperately needed in modern political discourse.”—Richard Murphy,Times Higher Educationmagazine 

“Viking Economicsshows us there's no reason we couldn't be making far more progress across a wide range of problems. George Lakey is great at explaining why.”—Bill McKibben, environmentalist and author, Distinguished Scholar ló"