The Finnish welfare state began in earnest at a time when the country was not particularly wealthy and it had little of the internationally renowned industry it has today. Furthermore, Finland managed to ramp up a welfare state at about the same time that it was forced to pay huge reparations to the USSR after World War II. Similarly, Sweden (the country which Finland used as a model for its welfare state) was not originally among the most prosperous nations.

The historical experience of the Nordic countries underscores that a welfare state is not a matter of having unusually large amounts of money compared to other Western European states, but rather it is a matter of taxation and spending priorities. Certainly Norway’s oil wealth lets it have some nicer public infrastructure than the neighbours, but such substantial natural resources are not a prerequisite.