page_title: Economic liberalization in the post–World War II era
section_title: Scandinavia
hierarchical_section_title: Economic liberalization in the post–World War II era / Post-1970s economic liberalism / Scandinavia
caption_attribution_description: Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Prime Minister of Denmark, captured during the session 'Europe's Purpose' at the Annual Meeting 2008 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 26, 2008.
context_page_description: Directly after World War II saw many countries adopt policies of economic liberalization in order to stimulate their economies.
  The period directly after the war did not see many, the most notable exception being West Germany's reforms of 1948, which set the stage for the Wirtschaftswunder in the 1950s and helped inform many of the liberalisations that were to come.
  However, it was not until the 1970s that the stagflation of the period forced many countries to look for new economic systems. The emergence of neoliberalism and other associated economically liberal doctrines saw a wave of economic liberalisations sweeping the globe.
  Starting with Chile in 1975, various governments adopted and implemented liberal policy. The most important of these were Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, who developed the initial wave of neoliberal thought in practise.
  Chronic economic crisis throughout the 1980s and the collapse of the Communist bloc at the end of the 1980s, helped foster political opposition to state interventionism in favor of unregulated market reform policies.
context_section_description: Scandinavian countries have embraced many neoliberal policies.
  Anders Fogh Rasmussen, former Prime Minister of Denmark and leader of Venstre, has written books advocating minimal state influence on market activities. Denmark is a European leader on economic freedom indices.
  Denmark has ranked as the world's 11th "most free" economy, of 162 countries, in an index created by the Wall Street Journal and Heritage Foundation, the Index of Economic Freedom 2008, while keeping at the same time a huge public sector (58.4% of GDP), the highest tax burden among developed countries (48.2% of GDP)  and an extremely dense social security net (Flexicurity).
  In Sweden, Carl Bildt's government program was one of liberalizing the Swedish economy, privatizing public services and making the country a member of the European Union. Carl Bildt signed the accession treaty at the European Union summit of Corfu, Greece on June 23, 1994. Economic changes were enacted, such as voucher schools, liberalized markets for telecommunications and energy as well as the privatization of publicly owned companies. The Bildt government made it possible for counties to privatize health care (although few did), contributing to liberalizing the Swedish economy. Privatization of state owned companies and deregulation of business were also carried out by the following social democratic governments.
  Iceland began implementing neoliberal economic policies beginning in the late 1980s. As measured by the Economic Freedom of the World, it had the 53rd "freest economy" in 1975 and it was one of the poorest countries in Europe. In 2004, it had the 9th freest economy and it was one of the richest. However, by 2009, the country was facing severe financial problems, a consequence that a number of observers have attributed to Iceland's extensive deregulation.
caption: Anders Fogh Rasmussen, former Prime Minister of Denmark.
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