1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910819817003321

Autore

Ornston Darius <1978->

Titolo

Good governance gone bad : how Nordic adaptability leads to excess / / Darius Ornston

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Ithaca ; ; London : , : Cornell University Press, , 2018

ISBN

1-5017-2612-9

1-5017-2611-0

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (276 pages)

Collana

Cornell studies in political economy

Disciplina

338.0948

Soggetti

States, Small - Economic policy

Scandinavia Economic policy

Europe Economic policy

Scandinavia Economic conditions 21st century

Europe Economic conditions 21st century

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Previously issued in print: 2018.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Introduction : the Nordic paradox -- Good governance gone bad : the politics of overshooting in Nordic Europe -- Manufacturing a crisis : the politics of planning in Sweden -- Connecting people : the politics of innovation in Finland -- From banking on fish to fishy banks : the politics of liberalization in Iceland -- Contrasting cases : Austria, Switzerland, Greece, and Portugal -- Overshooting outside of Nordic Europe : Ireland and Estonia -- Conclusion : lessons for large states.

Sommario/riassunto

If we believe that the small, open economies of Nordic Europe are paragons of good governance, why are they so prone to economic crisis? In Good Governance Gone Bad, Darius Ornston provides evidence that adapting flexibly to rapid, technological change and shifting patterns of economic competition may be a great virtue, but it does not prevent countries from making strikingly poor policy choices and suffering devastating results. Home to three of the "big five" financial crises in the twentieth century, Nordic Europe in the new millennium has witnessed a housing bubble in Denmark, the collapse of the Finnish ICT industry, and the Icelandic financial crisis.Ornston argues that the reason for these two seemingly contradictory



phenomena is one and the same. The dense, cohesive relationships that enable these countries to respond to crisis with radical reform render them vulnerable to policy overshooting and overinvestment. Good Governance Gone Bad tests this argument by examining the rise and decline of heavy industry in postwar Sweden, the emergence and disruption of the Finnish ICT industry, and Iceland's impressive but short-lived reign as a financial powerhouse as well as ten similar and contrasting cases across Europe and North America. Ornston demonstrates how small and large states alike can learn from the Nordic experience, providing a valuable corrective to uncritical praise for the "Nordic model."