Voters in Sweden have, as previously discussed here, rejected the Social Democrats that set up and ran the country’s welfare state for decades. Heritage’s Dan Mitchell explains part of the reason why here:

Sweden is no longer one of the world’s 10 richest jurisdictions. It now ranks as the 18th most prosperous nation according to the World Bank, which uses per capita gross national income. Using statistics that more accurately measure living standards, such as per-capita disposable income, Sweden falls even further in the rankings. According to calculations by the OECD, Swedes now have less disposable income than the average resident of Western Europe. Even Spaniards now rank above Swedes in terms of per-capita disposable income.

Americans, meanwhile, have almost twice as much per capita disposable income as Swedes, according to the OECD study. Even if the comparison is made using pre-tax economic output, America remains far ahead. Indeed, a Swedish think tank issued a report noting that if Sweden were part of America, it would be the sixth poorest state

So the next time you get in an argument with someone who praises the Swedish model for day care, welfare, etc., you might respond this way, “Do you mean the Louisiana model??