Extremes? Not really. Trying to incorporate the economic/social system of a relatively small group of countries like Norway, Denmark & Sweden into a huge diverse country like the United States, now you're talking apples & oranges. How many sovereign states do each of those countries have? Their combined population is less than half of California or far less than Florida, Texas, NY, etc. Granted they have some great ideas like Sweden implementing School Choice in the 1990's throughout the entire country....and a social safety net system for a much smaller population seems to work. So do we but its so corrupt and bureaucratic as to make it ineffective, expensive and potentially unsustainable.

On another note, their tax base is brutal. Payroll, Income, VAT put the tax burden on labor and consumption (read middle class), and not on capital income. And since their tax rate is totally flat, not graduated, everyone pays the same rate regardless of income....Scandinavians shoulder a larger share of their national debt than do Americans. Their GDP per capita is far less than Americans.....but then again we could argue until the cows come home and will it change anything, most likely not. I'll give them credit in one area, smaller national government, something we should try as originally designed. Cheers