countries are currently surviving the recession best? The ones with the Scandinavian economic model. According to Neo-Liberal economic theory, the Scandinavian countries should have collapsed by now. After all, they have large numbers of public employees on decent wages. Large trade unions. Very high taxation. A huge amount of government spending. I'm not arguing for a carbon-copy, but it has worked for them. While the Neo-Liberals in America, Britain and New Zealand have been targeting those on welfare, blaming them for the world's problems, the Scandinavian countries have been doing the opposite. That is, they've been helping those on welfare to get jobs, not blaming them for being poor. After taking a big hit from the global financial crisis in 2009, the Scandinavian economies have bounced back strongly, while most of the rest of Europe seems stuck in reverse. What's the Scandinavian secret? The Scandinavian people have mastered the art of win-win. For example, on my recent visit, I saw the Danish approach to economic development. Denmark doesn't tell its businesspeople what to do. Instead, Denmark sees its businesspeople as partners. The Danish government sits down with its key business groups. The two sides plan a workable strategy. After listening to its voters, workers and business partners, the Danish government doesn't muck around. Incentives, sector plans, skills training, research and development, industry investment, targets and timetables are all actively used to get the economy moving and to keep it moving. There is real symbiosis; it's a win-win partnership, and the