hi! it might be worth x-posting this question to a political or economics sub, or /r/AskSocialScience, for their perspective. Meanwhile, not discouraging further discussion here, but you may be interested in some previous posts:

• Why are the Scandinavian countries so seemingly progressive and how did they get there?

• How did the Scandinavian welfare state come into being?

• How did Scandinavia become such bastion of feminism?

• How did social democratic states become predominant among Nordic countries?

• another vote for /r/AskSocialScience in How long has Scandinavia been "on top" for?