Something Is Rotten in the (Welfare) State of Denmark: A Hazlittian Analysis of Danish Welfarism

Abstract

This essay examines the enduring relevance of Henry Hazlitt’s Economics in One Lesson in analyzing contemporary economic and social issues. It first applies Hazlitt’s lesson to three prominent contemporary issues: protectionism, technophobia, and the economic fallacies surrounding war. The essay then shifts focus to the Danish welfare state (velfærdsstat), often celebrated as a paragon of the Nordic model of social democracy. By applying Hazlitt’s lesson, the analysis highlights both the seen achievements of Denmark’s social policies and the unseen consequences. This reveals how government policies can, sometimes inadvertently, prioritize short-term gains over sustainable outcomes. In addition, Hazlitt’s lesson is employed to critique the broader implications of state interventions in areas such as public health and agriculture, including misguided dietary guidelines and policies that disadvantage small-scale farmers. Investigating the ripple effects of such interventions underscores the importance of recognizing the unseen, counterfactual outcomes that remain hidden in mainstream economic analyses. The essay concludes by reaffirming the timelessness of Hazlitt’s one lesson and advocating for a reduction in government intervention as a more effective approach to addressing economic and social challenges.

Introduction

Despite being nearly an octogenarian print, Henry Hazlitt’s Economics in One Lesson remains pertinent to any analysis of the current economic issues that face us. 1 As Hans-Hermann Hoppe writes, if a theoretical proposition’s validity does not depend on historical experience, it can be established a priori, i.e. “once and for all by means of the intellectual apprehension or comprehension of the nature of things.”2 Unlike the natural sciences, where a falsification process can gradually build up knowledge through empirical experiments, theories in the social sciences do not necessarily require constant updates, and examining historical thinkers is as important as studying contemporary social scientists (whose models may rely on underlying false assumptions).3 As Murray Rothbard writes, “In praxeology, in the analysis of human action, the axioms themselves are known to be true and meaningful.”4 It should thus not surprise contemporary and future readers that Hazlitt’s poignant analysis will remain sharp across historical experiences.

This essay will first introduce Hazlitt’s one lesson, providing various examples that reveal its intellectual persistence, and then proceed to delve deeper into the contemporary case of the Danish welfare state (velfærdsstat).

The Lesson

Unlike many modern writers, Hazlitt avoids obscurantism and gets straight to the point, stating his one lesson in the early pages of the book: “The art of economics consists in looking not merely at the immediate but at the longer effects of any act or policy; it consists in tracing the consequences of that policy not merely for one group but for all groups.”5

His main influence is Frédéric Bastiat’s 1850 Ce qu’on voit et ce qu’on ne voit pas (“that which is seen and that which is not seen”), in which Bastiat argues that many economic actions have immediate, visible effects (the seen), but they also have indirect, overlooked consequences (the unseen).6 Bastiat highlights the idea of opportunity cost, the value of what could have been done with resources if they were not directed toward the seen action; this serves to remind the reader that government expenditures are not costless.

In each chapter, Hazlitt expands on his lesson, and it becomes clear that his one lesson applies to the economic and social issues that plague the current news headlines. For example, the incoming Trump administration is preparing to implement extraordinary protectionist tariffs.7 Economic laws and government economic policies seemingly remain an irreconcilable duo. Hazlitt points out that tariffs help the protected producers at the expense of all other domestic producers; moreover, “contrary to centuries of interested propaganda and disinterested confusion, the tariff reduces the American level of wages.”8

Another application is Hazlitt’s critique of technophobes, whose luddite convictions lead them to oppose innovations out of short-term fear that the new technologies will disrupt the economic status quo.9 However, according to Joseph Schumpeter, this is something to be admired and, Hazlitt explains, through examples such as English stocking knitters, temporary short-term disruption can cause exponentially better economic results for the affected workers.10 The recent astonishing advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and its dawn upon many fields of work are relevant to this discussion. While it seems certain that the social risks of AI should be taken seriously,11 it cannot be denied that those who criticize AI from an economic standpoint are once again falling into the technophobe trap that Hazlitt exalted.12 Furthermore, Hazlitt explains how “make-work rules” stem from technophobic sentiments; with the advent of AI, we may see such rules emulate Hazlitt’s examples such as the painters’ union that imposed restrictions on the use of spray guns to make work by requiring the slower process of applying paint with a brush. Future regulations may require the use of manual computational work to “produce employment” that AI could have effortlessly completed.

A third, more general, example of Hazlitt’s one lesson applied to today’s world is his analysis of the detrimental effects of war. He exposes an economic fallacy that is still prevalent today, namely, that war boosts the economy. Aside from the depraved anti-peace incentives that such notions allude to, they rely on misleading economic metrics. For example, the commonly used Gross National Product (GNP), per Rothbard, should be replaced with the Private Product Remaining (PPR), a modified GNP that subtracts government spending to reveal a more accurate assessment of a nation’s economy.13 Hazlitt explains how many of the corollary conclusions from this economic falsehood, such as the idea that countries whose production plants were destroyed in the war had a postwar advantage over the Americans due to lower replacement costs, fall victim to thinking “in terms of an abstraction.” Hazlitt claims that such thinking is ubiquitous in most economic fallacies, and leads to the prioritization of “the collectivity, the ‘nation’ – and to forget or ignore the individuals who make it up and give it meaning.” And, therefore, “No one could think that the destruction of war was an economic advantage who began by thinking first of all of the people whose property was destroyed.”14 Moreover, war is a prime example of Bastiat’s broken window thought experiment, which Hazlitt starts his book with.15 Considering the various ongoing geopolitical conflicts, the two most prominent being the Russo-Ukrainian War and the War on Gaza, Hazlitt’s words seem to have fallen on deaf ears.

As evident, Hazlitt’s one lesson has vast applications. This essay now delves into its deployment on the Danish welfare state.

Velfærdsstat: The Danish Welfare State

Denmark’s welfare state is hailed as the poster child for the so-called Nordic model, characterized by the expansive social policies and a robust welfare system present in the Scandinavian countries. Keynesian economist Joseph Stiglitz has praised it for transforming Scandinavia into a “land of opportunity that America once was.”16 Proponents attribute its success to its market-based mixed economy.17 To an Austrian economist, this description of the Nordic model raises concerns on account of the fact that such “middle-of-the-road” economic systems are viewed as unsustainable, and, as Mises warned, they should be viewed as “the realization of socialism by installments.”18

Allan Carlson has explored how the social order, focusing on children and the family, is impacted by such a “middle way” approach in Sweden, Denmark’s neighboring Nordic model country.19 Envisioned and implemented largely by the Scandinavian democratic-socialist parties, the Nordic model of welfarism has been memorably portrayed in rose-colored glasses by American progressives such as Bernie Sanders, whose enthusiasm for it was focal during his 2020 presidential campaign.20 They advocate for stronger and more structured state intervention in social benefits, pointing to the Danish government’s achievements, ranging from educational grants to paid parental leave, and, the most frequently voiced, healthcare.21

According to its foreign ministry, Denmark “is known for its strong welfare state system, and for being one of the most egalitarian societies in the world.”22 Supporters of the Nordic model, such as Jeffrey Sachs, point to Denmark’s success in achieving a high level of equality as a benefit.23 However, they are partaking in what Rothbard identifies as the “unquestioned ethical value of ‘equality.’” Rothbard highlights that in “the area of egalitarianism, they [economists] have been able to make a flat value judgment on behalf of equality with remarkable impunity.”24 Understanding that it is not a given that equality should be the economic objective of society diminishes the virtues of Danish welfarism.

The Seen

At first glance, Denmark’s welfarism appears to have achieved impressive economic results; as Per Henrik Larsen highlights, Denmark’s economy has steadily risen above other European countries.25 On the social front, Denmark continues to rank in the upper echelon of countries per indicators such as equality, life satisfaction, safety, etc.26 Staying true to its characterization as a Nordic model economy, the Danish government roughly spent the equivalent of 45 billion USD in 2023, with a distribution visualized in the chart below (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Government expenditure (2023). Source: Statistics Denmark.27

These government expenditures produce visible results, with polls showing how most Danes are happy to pay taxes, seeing them as a beneficial investment.28 This should not be too surprising when considering the benefits that Danes have at their disposal, with the main ones being: pensions, health care, parental leave, educational grants, integration and refugee support, and benefits for: children, housing, disability, elderly, and sick leave.29 To illustrate the magnitude of Danish welfarism, let us investigate the benefits a student in Denmark may receive. The educational grant provides students living away from home with roughly 1000 USD per month (about half when the student still lives at home),30 on top of that, rent support (usually around 15% of the rent) can be provided according to circumstances.31 It becomes clear why American progressives, burdened with student debt, may idealize Denmark, where education is not only free but the students are given a substantial income.

Despite the seemingly positive results of Danish welfarism, we must recall that Hazlitt’s one lesson tells us to trace the consequences of policies beyond the short-term and one-group focus. This process uncovers an array of deficiencies. Whilst an in-depth analysis of these flaws is outside the scope of this essay, here are several noteworthy examples. Firstly, crime has gone up, despite increased spending on fighting crime.32 Secondly, the praised services that are provided come with a great deal of bureaucratic inefficiency; a quick skim of reviews for agencies such as the one administering SU reveals the extent of consumer dissatisfaction.33 Thirdly, quantitative education statistics place Denmark below American levels.34 Furthermore, an important aspect, that is only skimmed in this essay, regards the resulting incentives for individuals that such government interventions can generate. Abiding by methodological individualism helps us analyze that, for example, the Danish educational grant can result in an increased number of students pursuing higher education degrees despite not having full motivation for it. Aside from a series of anecdotes of such cases, reports of many individuals cheating the system indicate the perverse incentives that can arise from government aid.35 Lastly, health indicators such as life expectancy have not seen significant increases despite its world-renowned healthcare system;36 and news stories of people who die preventable deaths simply due to long waiting lists are not negligible.37 Furthermore, the consequences of misguided governmental health advice are slowly gaining traction (this will be returned to later).38

These shortcomings are not popular in public discourse and exemplify once more how Hazlitt’s one lesson of exploring the bigger picture of economic policies is being sidelined for quicker and shallower interpretations of Danish welfarism.

Like the government-funded bridge that Hazlitt describes, which is hard to not notice, the benefits from Danish welfarism are conspicuous. But, abiding by Hazlitt’s one lesson, we must remember that, “What has happened is merely that one thing has been created instead of others.” This brings us to the unseen consequences of the Danish welfare state.

The Unseen

Hazlitt’s one lesson emulates the popular opportunity cost adage that there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.39 While currency expansionists may claim otherwise, Hazlitt emphasizes that real wealth isn’t created by money printing, and funding for Danish social benefits ultimately comes from productive members of society.40 Leaving aside the fact that this process of coercive redistribution (whether from direct taxation or indirect taxation through the expansion of the money supply) is what funds the government’s catastrophic activities such as war,41 these policies have unseen effects. In a hypothetical scenario where Danes could keep more of their earnings, instead of working for the government half of their time,42 one can only imagine the innovations and investments that might arise. Could students and parents who currently make use of state benefits be better off in such a world?

Understanding the concept of the unseens, the fact that there are lost potentials that we will never experience nor apprehend their forever-unrealized qualities, is also relevant to public health. Since Hazlitt’s lesson teaches us that the art of economics investigates the “effects of any act or policy,” it is important to explore all the effects of acts of government that promote certain health programs.43 From diet advice to vaccine recommendations,44 the Danish government is impacting the health of its citizens. An in-depth analysis of the biological merits of these governmental recommendations is not the focus of this essay, but whatever their consequences are, the upshot is that there exists an unseen potential for public health; we will never know how much healthier, or unhealthier, the Danish public would be had the government not intervened.45

Moving on from these unseens that will, by definition, never be seen, certain effects are unseen to the masses but noticed by the followers of Hazlitt’s lesson who look at the longer and broader impacts of a policy. For example, as a growing number of people are realizing, public health is in shambles. Probably not as worrying as American public health, Danish public health statistics nonetheless reveal alarming trends. As aforementioned, various indicators do not show the advantageous results that proponents may expect from free healthcare. Obesity, a key indicator of overall metabolic function, and thus health, has seen daunting growth.46 Mental health, especially among the youth, is just as alarming. Denmark ranks as one of the top countries with the most antidepressant users, with almost one in ten Danes being prescribed antidepressants;47 the number of young Danes diagnosed with anxiety has tripled in the last decade.48 Overall, 15% of children and adolescents in Denmark have been diagnosed with a mental disorder.49 Furthermore, Danish teenagers consume twice the European average of monthly alcohol and have also experienced a rise in recreational opioid drugs.50 In addition, other chronic health issues that are plaguing the world, such as neurodegenerations, are witnessing rising rates in Denmark.51 Whilst there is no causal link between state welfarism and these worrying health statistics (as we see similar trends across varying levels of state welfarism in different nations), it can be excluded that welfarism is succeeding at preventing their rise.

With free healthcare being a central aspect of Danish welfarism, it is important to explore some of their federal health recommendations. The general trend is pushing for plant-based diets.52 The Danish Official Dietary Guidelines are largely identical to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, advising a plant-based diet full of whole grains, lean protein, vegetable oils, fruits, and vegetables, and low in alcohol, saturated fats, added sugar, and sodium.53 Experts who have investigated the long-term effects of these policies, across all groups of people as Hazlitt teaches us, have found nightmarish results; accepting their analyses as true, these misguided nutritional policies, and their consequential suboptimal pharmaceutical recommendations, have led to a destruction of human life that dwarfs that of the world’s worst historical genocides.54

In addition to nutritional guidelines, the Danish government has influenced its citizens’ diets via the downstream effects of their agricultural policies.55 A tax on carbon dioxide livestock emissions will be introduced in 2030. A Hazlittian analysis reveals that such a tax will disproportionately harm small-scale farmers, who have less financial flexibility to absorb the cost. Moreover, this tax fails to differentiate between types of cattle farming, further harming small-scale, regenerative cattle farmers.56 The challenges faced by small-scale cattle farmers in the US are being mirrored in Denmark, where policies are becoming increasingly stringent.57 For example, there has been a recent increase in the cost of a federal veterinary inspector that must be present on the site of a cattle being shot; a prime example of what Hazlitt identified as a “make-work” practice.58 In idiosyncratic bureaucratic irony, to help farmers burdened by the governmentally increased fees, farmers can now apply for governmental subsidies.59 It becomes clear why cattle production is significantly down, with the current 1.4 million cattle looking puny in comparison to the 3.3 million cattle present in Denmark in 1965.60 The effect of these policies is that the market is distorted to favor other forms of dietary options. For example, Northern Europe’s largest insect farm has recently been inaugurated in Denmark.61 Hazlitt’s one lesson is in line with Rothbard’s work and shows us how market distortions happen with any economic intervention from the government. What may seem like free-market forces at play, such as the mentioned insect factory being led by a private business (Enorm), have been meaningfully impacted by the antecedent government policies.

It can be said that Denmark is exhibiting what Hoppe described as the inevitable result of the socialization of a social health care system, whereby “a monstrous machinery of wealth and income redistribution at the expense of responsible individuals and low-risk groups in favor of irresponsible actors and high-risk groups has been put in motion.”62 Mises also identified the perverse incentives present in state-funded healthcare, writing that it “makes a people sick bodily and mentally or at least helps to multiply, lengthen, and intensify disease.”63 These perverse incentives tie into the broken window fallacy; all the increased spending for the decreased health of the public can be viewed by contemporary mainstream economists as beneficial for the economy. With our deteriorating health representing the broken window, pro-GNP economists may celebrate the increased health spending.64 If Rothbard’s PPR were adopted in place of GNP, the harm of government spending would become more visible to everyone. Regarding health care spending, solutions that treat root causes of diseases efficiently, instead of chronically managing symptoms, may suddenly gain more traction.65 This is because governments would be forced to reconsider their health expenditure.66 Giving the government the benefit of the doubt regarding the morality of their intentions, it remains indisputable that a lot of harm can be done by governmental interventions’ ripple effects. Any policy or guideline that stems from such a centralized form of power (whether its target population is Denmark’s 5.9 million or the US’s 345 million) is bound to have serious unintended consequences. The more sensible solution is thus not more and better government intervention, which attempts to “recalibrate” any initial “over adjustments,” but less government intervention.67

Conclusion

This essay has explored how Hazlitt’s one lesson applies to various contemporary issues. The current case of Danish welfarism has been delved into by exploring both the seens and the unseens.

On a personal note, I acknowledge the difficulty of fully internalizing Hazlitt’s lesson. As someone currently benefiting from generous educational grants that support my comfortable lifestyle, it feels hypocritical and paradoxical to critique them by invoking the unseen costs. Yet, this question remains essential. Without the ability to observe counterfactuals and lost potentials,68 we can only theorize their impact—precisely Hazlitt’s point.

At its heart, Hazlitt’s lesson underscores the inherent immorality of government intervention. Laying the foundations for modern libertarian theory, Franz Oppenheimer has explained how all government actions constitute political means and are thus coercive (as opposed to voluntary economic means). Thus, even seemingly beneficial results of government intervention must be condemned on principle. Hazlitt teaches us that beyond being morally unjustified, government interventions often yield outcomes opposite to their intentions. This brings us, yet again, to question governmental motives; are the incentive misalignments of modern political and economic systems intentional or unintentional? Adopting a more forgiving perspective, this Hayek quote comes to mind: “Is there a greater tragedy imaginable than that, in our endeavor consciously to shape our future in accordance with high ideals, we should in fact unwittingly produce the very opposite of what we have been striving for?”69 On the other hand, a more unforgiving outlook may lead the reader to the temptation of conveniently simplistic conclusions of grand conspiracies; however, the following George Carlin quote seems apt in most cases of societal degeneracy that seem to be caused by evil cabals: “You don’t need a formal conspiracy when interests converge.”70

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Rolander, Niclas (2024). “Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Ozempic boom saved Denmark’s GDP from a no-growth 2023—and will help double its expected growth this year, country’s largest bank says.” Bloomberg. Available from: https://fortune.com/europe/2024/03/05/novo-nordisks-wegovy-and-ozempic-boom- saved-denmarks-gdp-from-a-no-growth-2023/ (Last accessed: 18/01/2025).

Rothbard, Murray Newton ([1962] 2004). Man, Economy, and State with Power and Market. Mises Institute.

Rothbard, Murray Newton ([1974] 2000). Egalitarianism as a Revolt Against Nature and Other Essays. Mises Institute.

Rothbard, Murray Newton ([1976] 2011). “Praxeology: The Methodology of Austrian Economics.” From Economic Controversies, Mises Institute.

Salatin, Joel (2007). Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal. Polyface Incorporated.

Sandbu, Martin (2018). “What the Nordic mixed economy can teach today’s new left.” Financial Times. Available from: https://www.ft.com/content/6297bf96-aa16-11e8- 94bd-cba20d67390c (Last accessed: 18/01/2025).

Sanders, Bernie (2013). “What Can We Learn From Denmark?” Huffpost. Available from: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/what-can-we-learn-from-de b 3339736 (Last accessed: 18/01/2025).

Schumpeter, Joseph (1942). Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy. Harper Collins.

Sjøgren, Kristian (2020). “How many children and adolescents in Denmark have been diagnosed with a mental disorder?” Science News. Available from: https://sciencenews.dk/en/how-many-children-and-adolescents-in-denmark-have-been- diagnosed-with-a-mental-disorder (Last accessed: 18/01/2025).

Statista. 2024. “Global pharmaceutical industry - statistics & facts.” Available from: https://www.statista.com/topics/1764/global-pharmaceutical-industry/#topicOverview (Last accessed: 18/01/2025).

Statistics Denmark. “Economy of the general government sector.” Available from: https://www.dst.dk/en/Statistik/emner/oekonomi/offentlig-oekonomi/offentlig- sektors-oekonomi (Last accessed: 17/01/2025).

Stiglitz, Joseph (2015). “‘Scandinavian Dream’ is true fix for America’s income inequality”, CNN. Available from: https://gantnews.com/2015/06/03/scandinavian-dream-is-true-fix- for-americas-income-inequality/ (Last accessed: 16/01/2025).

Tao, Aaron (2015). “Your Government-Approved Diet May Kill You”, Mises Institute. Available from: https://mises.org/mises-daily/your-government-approved-diet-may-kill- you (Last accessed: 15/01/2025).

Taubes, Gary (2007). Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health. Alfred A. Knopf.

Teicholz, Nina (2014). The Big Fat Surprise: why butter meat, and cheese belong in a healthy diet. Scribe Publications.

The Local Denmark (2018). “Number of young Danes diagnosed with anxiety and depression trebles in ten years.” The Local. Available from: https://www.thelocal.dk/20180206/number-of-young-danes-diagnosed-with-angst-and- depression-trebles-in-ten-years (Last accessed: 18/01/2025).

Tolstrup, Janne, Maja Bramming, Michael Davidsen, and Stine Schramm (2023). “Time trends in body mass index distribution in the general population in Denmark from 1987 to 2021.” Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37897390/ (Last accessed: 18/01/2025).

Torrella, Kenny (2024). “Denmark is tiny. Its ambition to make its food system more climate-friendly is huge.” Vox. Available from: https://www.vox.com/future- perfect/384515/rune-christoffer-dragsdahl-vegetarian-society-denmark-animal-welfare- future-perfect-50 (Last accessed: 15/01/2025).

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Wenande, Christisan (2020). “Danish teens still European champs at drinking.” Copenhagen Post. Available from: https://cphpost.dk/2020-05-19/news/danish-teens- still-european-champs-at-drinking/ (Last accessed: 18/01/2025).

• 1

  Mises, Human Action: A Treatise on Economics.

• 2

  Hoppe, Democracy: The God That Failed, p. xv.

• 3

  In his essay Social Science and Natural Science, Mises writes that the social sciences “do not have to adopt the methods of the natural sciences.” And, in his book The Free Market and Its Enemies: Pseudo-Science, Socialism, and Inflation, Mises writes: “In the field of human action [praxeology], we are never in a position of being able to control experiments. We can never talk of facts in the field of social sciences in the same sense in which we refer to facts in the natural sciences.” (p. 6)

• 4

  Rothbard, “Praxeology: The Methodology of Austrian Economics.”

• 5

  Hazlitt, Economics in One Lesson: The Shortest & Surest Way to Understand Basic Economics, p. 17.

• 6

  Bastiat, Ce qu’on voit et ce qu’on ne voit pas.

• 7

  Goldman, “Trump ups the ante on tariffs, vowing massive taxes on goods from Mexico, Canada and China on Day 1”, CNN. Surprisingly, CNN here takes the free market, anti-interventionist stance.

• 8

  Hazlitt, pp. 81.

• 9

  Ibid, p. 51. Interestingly, Hazlitt coined the word technophobe in this book. The fact that it has now become a commonly used word further highlights Hazlitt’s contemporary relevance.

• 10

  Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy. Joseph Schumpeter’s concept of creative destruction applies here.

• 11

  Dennet, “The Problem With Counterfeit People,” The Atlantic.

• 12

  Clark, “Unveiling The Dark Side Of Artificial Intelligence In The Job Market,” Forbes.

• 13

  Rothbard, Man, Economy, and State, p. 1293.

• 14

  Hazlitt, p. 28.

• 15

  Hazlitt, pp. 23-25. Briefly, a broken shop window seems to stimulate economic activity (the window glazier gets paid) if one ignores the lost opportunities of what the capital (from the shopkeeper) could have been spent on instead.

• 16

  Stiglitz, “‘Scandinavian Dream’ is true fix for America’s income inequality”, CNN.

• 17

  Martin, “What the Nordic mixed economy can teach today’s new left,” Financial Times.

• 18

  Mises, “Middle-of-the-Road Policy Leads to Socialism.” Mises asserted that there is no possible compromise between capitalism and socialism, no “third system possible” (Mises, Bureaucracy, p. 10).

• 19

  Carlson, “What Has Government Done to Our Families?” Mises Institute.

• 20

  Fellman, “Nordic social democracy in US politics.” Aarhus University.

• 21

  Sanders, “What Can We Learn From Denmark?” Huffpost.

• 22

  Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, “About Denmark.”

• 23

  Gordon, “Jeffrey Sachs’s Blind Spot,” Mises Institute.

• 24

  Rothbard, “Egalitarianism as a Revolt Against Nature”, pp. 2-3. Rothbard did not shy away from what he saw as grave perils of egalitarianism (p. 20): “Since their methodology and their goals deny the very structure of humanity and of the universe, the egalitarians are profoundly antihuman; and, therefore, their ideology and their activities may be set down as profoundly evil as well.”

• 25

  Hansen, “Denmark: Potemkin Village,” Mises Institute.

• 26

  OECD, “Denmark,” Better Life Index.

• 27

  Statistics Denmark, “Economy of the general government sector.”

• 28

  Pettinger, “Why Denmark is rich despite high taxes?” Economics Help.

• 29

  Life in Denmark, “Social assistance” & ATP, “Udbetaling Danmark.”

• 30

  Uddanelses og Forskningstyrelsen, “SU.”

• 31

  Life in Denmark, “Calculate your housing benefit.”

• 32

  Hansen, “Denmark: A Case Study in Social Democracy,” Mises Institute.

• 33

  Trustpilot, “SU”: 1.5/5 stars.

• 34

  Hansen, “Denmark: A Case Study in Social Democracy,” Mises Institute. To the surprise of many European readers, when ranked by years of education and percentage of college graduates, Denmark places significantly below the US (which is by no means a perfect model for an educational system).

• 35

  CPH Post, “More SU cheaters getting caught.” To use witty Hoppean terminology, this creation of arguably perverse incentives is bound to proliferate the “bumhood” present in universities (Hoppe, Democracy: The God That Failed, p. 211).

• 36

  McMaken, “Life Expectancy: If Denmark Were a US State, It Would Rank Equal To or Worse Than Sixteen US States,” Mises Institute.

• 37

  Hansen, “Denmark: A Case Study in Social Democracy,” Mises Institute.

• 38

  Tao, “Your Government-Approved Diet May Kill You,” Mises Institute.

• 39

  Heinlein, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress.

• 40

  Hazlitt, p. 171: “The real purchasing power for goods, however, as we have seen, consists of other goods.”

• 41

  Is free education and paid paternity leave worth funding wars? Furthermore, the priorities of the Danish governments are questionable. A recent reform to the educational grant has removed one year of grants to save the government the equivalent of roughly 50 million USD. Meanwhile, the equivalent of roughly 1 billion USD have been sent to Ukraine since the start of the war (Asmussen, “Camilla bruger det sjette SU-ar, som regeringen vil fjerne: ‘Vi er jo bare mennesker,’” DR, & Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, “Danish support for Ukraine”).

• 42

  It should be noted that “working for the government half of their time” is based on the 50% tax that is usually reported. However, the “effective tax level is around 70 percent” once we account for “the effects of the sales tax and excise taxes” (Hansen, “Denmark: A Case Study in Social Democracy,” Mises Institute).

• 43

  Hazlitt, Economics in One Lesson, p. 17.

• 44

  Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries of Denmark, “The Danish Official Dietary Guidelines” & Danish Health Authority, “Vaccination”

• 45

  The worsening health trends (explored below) that coincide with government health interventions would point to better health outcomes in the hypothetical world were governments did not intervene on our health.

• 46

  “The prevalence of obesity in Denmark increased from 6.1% in 1987 to 18.4% in 2021” (Tolstrup, et al., “Time trends in body mass index distribution in the general population in Denmark from 1987 to 2021”).

• 47

  “Almost one in ten in Denmark prescribed antidepressants,” The Local, & Immad, “20 Countries with Most Antidepressant Users in the World,” Yahoo Finance.

• 48

  “Number of young Danes diagnosed with anxiety and depression trebles in ten years,” The Local.

• 49

  Sjøgren, “How many children and adolescents in Denmark have been diagnosed with a mental disorder?” Science News.

• 50

  Wenande, “Danish teens still European champs at drinking,” Copenhagen Post & Christenen, et al. “New study on young people’s use of non-prescribed opioids in Denmark,” PopNAD.

• 51

  Neurodegenerative afflictions, like dementia, are set to rise (Danish Dementia Research Centre).

• 52

  This is done with many types of policies: the Danish government “made a deal to shift its food system in a more plant-based and organic direction, and has set aside around $200 million US to do it. About $85 million is going to farmers who grow plant-based foods. The rest is being used to fund new projects, like experimenting with “nudge theory” — redesigning cafeterias to subtly encourage consumers to choose more plant-based options — and launching a startup incubator for plant-based companies at the Technological Institute of Denmark.” And “In the first round, the Hospitality School of Copenhagen got funding for a vegetarian chef’s degree. They got the funding for developing a curriculum that the government could then approve as acceptable for a new chef’s degree — which does not have any meat — and that degree becomes part of the government system, so it becomes a formal government education. But they could not have done it without getting funding to develop the curriculum.”(Torrella, “Denmark is tiny. Its ambition to make its food system more climate-friendly is huge,” Vox).

• 53

  Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries of Denmark, “The Danish Official Dietary Guidelines” & USDA, “Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025.”

• 54

  For more on this, see Lysiak’s Fiat Food, Taubes’s Good Calories, Bad Calories, Teicholz’s The Big Fat Surprise, and Ede’s Change Your Diet, Change Your Mind.

• 55

  Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries of Denmark, “Danish Action Plan for Plant-based Foods”

• 56

  However, research suggests that “if cattle are managed in a certain way during the finishing phase, grassfed beef can be carbon-negative in the short term and carbon-neutral in the long term.” (Brown, “Can responsible grazing make beef climate-neutral?” One Earth).

• 57

  Salatin, Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal.

• 58

  Hazlitt, p. 61. Hazlitt explains how “make-work” rules but do not create any additional real value, quite the contrary. Sure, this veterinary inspector now earns more, but this is at the expense of the cattle farmer and/or their clients. Furthermore, such increases in bureaucratic burden often result in boosting foreign beef producers, who import into Denmark and aren’t affected by these domestic production regulations. (Mogensen, “Landmand med 600 dyr: Vi får sværere ved at vinde over argentinske bøffer med nye gebyrer,” Landbrugsavisen).

• 59

  This has been aptly described by a local conservationist as “an inelegant patchwork solution.” (Pedersen, “Ny ordning skal afhjælpe mod stigende gebyrer: Det er en uelegant lappeløsning,” Landbrugs Avisen).

• 60

  Danmarks Statistik, “Agricultural Statistics 1900-1965” & Danmarks Statistik, “Fortsat lille fald i antallet af kvæg.”

• 61

  Feed and Additive, “Northern Europe’s largest insect farm opens in Denmark.”

• 62

  Hoppe continues: “Subsidies for the ill, unhealthy and disabled breed illness, disease, and disability and weaken the desire to work for a living and to lead healthy lives.” (Democracy: The God That Failed, p. 196).

• 63

  Mises, Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis, pp. 431-32.

• 64

  This is akin to viewing Bastiat’s broken window as economically beneficial or, in a more solemn example, praising the economic boost of a funeral casket producer following a mass murder.

• 65

  Across medical fields, a growing number of experts blame many modern health issues on an unbalanced metabolic function; lifestyle adjustments (which are much cheaper) to fix this root cause would severely dampen the demand for the pharma industry (which has a market size of over 1.5 trillion USD) (Statista, “Global pharmaceutical industry - statistics & facts”). Denmark is a key player in this field, housing Novo Nordisk, currently Europe’s second largest company and the world’s second largest pharmaceutical company (Visual Capitalist & Companies by Market Cap). With its recent expansions in the obesity drug market, Novo Nordisk has proven that the market for treating symptoms of chronic diseases, whether through insulin or semaglutide (Ozempic) remains highly profitable in today’s world (Rolander, “Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Ozempic boom saved Denmark’s GDP from a no-growth 2023—and will help double its expected growth this year, country’s largest bank says,” Bloomberg).

• 66

  Similar arguments are made for returning to harder form of money, such as gold or bitcoin, to make the government more accountable for its spending. (See Ammous, The Bitcoin Standard).

• 67

  Attempts to limit government power can focus on decentralizing it through secessions. For more on this, see McMaken, Breaking Away: The Case for Secession, Radical Decentralization, and Smaller Polities.

• 68

  We currently have not developed fantastical time-travelling technology that allows us to live out counterfactuals.

• 69

  Hayek, The Road to Serfdom, p. 35.

• 70

  Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher (2001-05-16).