导读：北欧诸国主要指以下四个国家：瑞典、丹麦、挪威和芬兰。这四个国家之所以成为榜样，是因为他们的改革很成功。
The Nordic countries
北欧国家
The next supermodel
下一个楷模
Politicians from both right and left could learn from the Nordic countries
无论是左派还是右派，政客都能从北欧四国吸取经验教训
Feb 2nd 2013 |From the print edition
SMALLISH countries are often in the vanguard when it comes to reforming government. In the 1980s Britain was out in the lead, thanks to Thatcherism and privatisation. Tiny Singapore has long been a role model for many reformers. Now the Nordic countries are likely to assume a similar role.
信奉小政府的国家往往冲在改革的前列。上世纪80年代，在撒切尔主义和私有化的推动下，英国脱颖而出；而弹丸之地的新加坡长期以来就是众多改革派心目中的榜样；如今，北欧国家可能会承担起相似的角色。
That is partly because the four main Nordics—Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland—are doing rather well. If you had to be reborn anywhere in the world as a person with average talents and income, you would want to be a Viking.
北欧诸国主要是指以下四个国家：瑞典、丹麦、挪威和芬兰。这四个国家之所以成为榜样，是因为他们的改革非常成功。作为一个资质平平收入一般的普通人，你来世投胎的时候可能想成为一名海盗。
The Nordics cluster at the top of league tables of everything from economic competitiveness to social health to happiness. They have avoided both southern Europe's economic sclerosis and America's extreme inequality.
无论是从经济竞争力，还是社会安全保障覆盖面，亦或是生活的幸福程度来说，北欧四国在世界上都是数一数二的。在这里，你看不到欧洲的经济僵化和美国的极端不平等。
Development theorists have taken to calling successful modernization “getting to Denmark”. Meanwhile a region that was once synonymous with do-it-yourself furniture and Abba has even become a cultural haven, home to “The Killing”, Noma and “Angry Birds”.
发展理论家乐于称道前往丹麦就是前往成功的现代化之路。同时，这个一度以自助家具和阿巴乐队而享誉世界的地区甚至已经成为一个文化的天堂，这里是“杀手”、“愤怒的小鸟”等游戏的诞生之地。
As our special report this week explains, some of this is down to lucky timing: the Nordics cleverly managed to have their debt crisis in the 1990s. But the second reason why the Nordic model is in vogue is more interesting.
正如本周特别报道所指出的那样，这种成功：北欧国家聪明地让债务危机在上世纪90年代发生。但是，人们更感兴趣的是北欧模式盛行的第二个原因。如何对社会公共部门进行改革，从而让国家变得更高效率、更灵活。
To politicians around the world—especially in the debt-ridden West—they offer a blueprint of how to reform the public sector, making the state far more efficient and responsive.
在这个问题上，北欧四国给全世界的政客，尤其是那些债务缠身的西方国家的政客提供了一个借鉴。
From Pippi Longstocking to private schools
从长袜子皮皮到私立学校【1】
The idea of lean Nordic government will come as a shock both to French leftists who dream of socialist Scandinavia and to American conservatives who fear that Barack Obama is bent on “Swedenisation”.
在法国左派的眼中，他们的梦想是斯堪的纳维亚式的社会主义；对于美国的保守力量来说，他们担心奥巴马把美国带向“瑞典现代化模式”。因此，北欧四国的“小政府”思想对他们来说不羁是当头一棒。
They are out of date. In the 1970s and 1980s the Nordics were indeed tax-and-spend countries. Sweden's public spending reached 67% of GDP in 1993. Astrid Lindgren, the inventor of Pippi Longstocking, was forced to pay more than 100% of her income in taxes.
但是，他们这样想就落伍了。北欧国家确实曾在在上世纪七、八十年代实行量入为出的政策。在1993年时，瑞典的公共开支在GDP中的占比达到了67%。《长袜子皮皮》的作者阿斯特丽德·林格伦不得不支将其全部收入都用来缴纳税负，即使如此还不够。
But tax-and-spend did not work: Sweden fell from being the fourth-richest country in the world in 1970 to the 14th in 1993.
但是，量入为出的政策并没有起到应有的作用：在1970年时，瑞典在世界富裕国家的排行榜上还排在第四位，但是到了1993年，她的排名跌到了第十四位。
Since then the Nordics have changed course—mainly to the right. Government's share of GDP in Sweden, which has dropped by around 18 percentage points, is lower than France's and could soon be lower than Britain's.
从那以后，北欧国家开始转变思路，重点地倒向自由主义。在瑞典，政府部门占GDP的份额下降了18个百分点，这个比例不仅低于法国，而且用不了多长时间也会低于英国。
Taxes have been cut: the corporate rate is 22%, far lower than America's. The Nordics have focused on balancing the books. While Mr Obama and Congress dither over entitlement reform, Sweden has reformed its pension system (see Free exchange). Its budget deficit is 0.3% of GDP; America's is 7%.
政府下调了税率：目前的企业税为22%，远远低于美国。北欧国家把重点放在了平衡收支方面。当奥巴马还在为津贴改革同国会讨价还价的时候，瑞典早已对她的养老金体系进行了改革。美国的财政赤字为GDP的7%，而瑞典只有0.3%。
On public services the Nordics have been similarly pragmatic. So long as public services work, they do not mind who provides them. Denmark and Norway allow private firms to run public hospitals.
在公共服务方面，北欧国家同样务实。在他们看来，只要公共服务体系运转正常，谁提供服务都是一样。在丹麦和挪威，私营企业获准可以开办公共医院；
Sweden has a universal system of school vouchers, with private for-profit schools competing with public schools. Denmark also has vouchers—but ones that you can top up. When it comes to choice, Milton Friedman would be more at home in Stockholm than in Washington, DC.
在瑞典，教育券体系的存在允许以盈利为目的的私人学校同公立学校进行竞争；在丹麦，同样的教育券允许人们对它进行充值。如果让米尔顿·弗里德曼来选择，他可能会放弃华盛顿而选择斯德哥尔摩，因为斯德哥尔摩能给他更舒适的生活。
All Western politicians claim to promote transparency and technology. The Nordics can do so with more justification than most. The performance of all schools and hospitals is measured. Governments are forced to operate in the harsh light of day: Sweden gives everyone access to official records.
所有的西方政客都无一例外地声称要提高政府的透明度，并且还要促进技术的发展。相比之下，北欧国家的政客们有更多的理由来证明他们有资格这样说。在北欧，所有的学校和医院都得接受绩效考核，政府的运作被强制放在众目睽睽之下开进行：瑞典人有权查阅官方纪录；
Politicians are vilified if they get off their bicycles and into official limousines. The home of Skype and Spotify is also a leader in e-government: you can pay your taxes with an SMS message.
政客如果不骑自行车而去享受官方的豪华轿车，人们对他的评价就会降低。北欧四国还在电子政务方面走在前列，Skype和Spotify都在这里安家落户：人们可以利用短信来纳税。
This may sound like enhanced Thatcherism, but the Nordics also offer something for the progressive left by proving that it is possible to combine competitive capitalism with a large state: they employ 30% of their workforce in the public sector, compared with an OECD average of 15%.
这听起来有点像“撒切尔主义”的增强版本。不过，通过证明自由竞争的资本主义有可能同大政府相结合，北欧国家还给信奉进步主义的左派提供了不少经验：经合组织平均15%的水平相比，北欧四国将30%的劳动力投入到公共部门中。
They are stout free-traders who resist the temptation to intervene even to protect iconic companies: Sweden let Saab go bankrupt and Volvo is now owned by China's Geeley. But they also focus on the long term—most obviously through Norway's $600 billion sovereign-wealth fund—and they look for ways to temper capitalism's harsher effects.
他们都是坚定的自由贸易主义者，顶住了对市场进行干预的诱惑，甚至对标志性的企业都不实行保护主义：瑞典政府对萨博的破产未加干预，至于沃尔沃，她目前的东家是中国的吉利公司。但是，他们把重点放到了一些长期的项目上——在这方面，挪威是最明显的例子，她的主权财富基金的总额已达到6000亿美元。除此之外，北欧国家还一直在想方设法缓和资本主义制度下更深层次的不利影响。
Denmark, for instance, has a system of “flexicurity” that makes it easier for employers to sack people but provides support and training for the unemployed, and Finland organises venture-capital networks.
例如，丹麦建立了一套“弹性保障”体系，这套体系让雇主解雇工人变得更加方便，但是雇主在解雇工人的同时还得为他们提供失业保障和再就业培训。芬兰也为风险资本构建了一个网络。
The sour part of the smorgasbord
瑞典式自助餐也有不好吃的部分【2】
The new Nordic model is not perfect. Public spending as a proportion of GDP in these countries is still higher than this newspaper would like, or indeed than will be sustainable. Their levels of taxation still encourage entrepreneurs to move abroad: London is full of clever young Swedes.
不过，北欧新模式并不完美。同本报的期望相比，北欧国家的公共开支在GDP中的比例仍旧过高，说实话，这种水平是难以持续的。同时，他们的税率依旧过高，促使企业家移居国外：伦敦住满了来自瑞典的高素质年轻人。
Too many people—especially immigrants—live off benefits. The pressures that have forced their governments to cut spending, such as growing global competition, will force more change. The Nordics are bloated compared with Singapore, and they have not focused enough on means-testing benefits.
另外，依靠福利生活的人太多，移民尤为严重。各国政府面临着消减开支的压力，随着全球性竞争日趋激烈，这种压力可能会措施他们进行更多的改革。同新加坡相比，北欧国家的政府仍旧臃肿，并且也没有把足够多得精力集中在按实际情况享受福利的方面。
All the same, ever more countries should look to the Nordics. Western countries will hit the limits of big government, as Sweden did. When Angela Merkel worries that the European Union has 7% of the world's population but half of its social spending, the Nordics are part of the answer.
尽管存在着以上种种不足，还是应当有更加多的国家向他们看齐。如同瑞典曾经历的那样，西方国家的大政府即将触及上限。欧盟的人口只占世界总数的7%，而社会开支却占了全球的一半。对此，安格拉·默克尔忧心忡忡。但是，北欧国家的成功给她提供了一些答案。
They also show that EU countries can be genuine economic successes. And as the Asians introduce welfare states they too will look to the Nordics: Norway is a particular focus of the Chinese.
不仅如此，欧盟各国还从北欧国家那里看到，他们也能获得真正的经济成功。在亚洲各国发展福利制度的过程中，他们也应该向北欧国家看齐：挪威是中国学习的重中之重。
The main lesson to learn from the Nordics is not ideological but practical. The state is popular not because it is big but because it works. A Swede pays tax more willingly than a Californian because he gets decent schools and free health care.
北欧国家给人们提供的主要经验教训不在于意识形态，而在于这种新模式的实用性。政府大不是它受欢迎的原因，政府受欢迎是因为它能够起到应有的作用。同加州的居民相比，瑞典人在缴纳税务时更加自愿，因为他能够接受良好的教育，并且还可以享受免费的医疗保健。
The Nordics have pushed far-reaching reforms past unions and business lobbies. The proof is there. You can inject market mechanisms into the welfare state to sharpen its performance. You can put entitlement programmes on sound foundations to avoid beggaring future generations.
北欧国家的改革成果远远超过了工会和商业游说组织的目标。事实就是事实，因为它就摆在那里。你可以把市场机制注入到福利制度中去，从而强化市场机制的表现力；你也可以把津贴项目建立在稳定的基础上，从而避免后代人以借债为生。
But you need to be willing to root out corruption and vested interests. And you must be ready to abandon tired orthodoxies of the left and right and forage for good ideas across the political spectrum. The world will be studying the Nordic model for years to come.
但是，你必须要有根除腐败和特殊利益的意愿，你必须要做好准备，把陈腐的左派和右派的正统观念抛在一边，到各个政治派别中去搜寻有益的观点。在未来的数年中，世界将把时间花在对北欧模式进行研究上。
【注】
1. 阿斯特丽德·林格伦（1907—2002），女，瑞典人，1946年至1970年间担任拉米和舍格伦出版公司儿童部主编，开创了瑞典儿童文学的一个黄金时代。林格伦的童话《长袜子皮皮》使得她蜚声瑞典，继而蜚声欧洲以至全世界。代表作还有《小飞人卡尔松》、《米欧，我的米欧》、《狮心兄弟》、《绿林女儿》、《淘气包埃米尔》等，她共为孩子们写了87部文学作品。
2.传说中，自助餐的真正起源，是八至十一世纪北欧的斯堪的纳维亚半岛，也就是现在的瑞典所在地。那时的海盗们每次有所猎获的时候，就要由海盗头头出面，大宴群盗，以示庆贺。但海盗们不习惯当时吃西餐的繁文缛节，于是便独出心裁，发明了这种自己到餐台上自选、自取食品及饮料的吃法。因为这种食材好准备，又经济实惠，因此很快在社会上流行开来。
【日积月累】
sclerosis n .僵化
dither v.犹豫
entitlement n.津贴
vilify v.诽谤
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