I only used the word "socialism" because the other commenter used it - in the original meaning of the word it doesn't exist anywhere in Europe. What I meant is simply bad regulation. You are correct that some of the nordish countries have a more ,,left'' reputation and have things like high taxes, alot of redistribution etc... But if you look at the "Heritage Ranking of Economic Freedom" (http://www.heritage.org/index/ranking), you see: - Denmark (Rank 11), Finland (17), Sweden (21) - Spain(36), Portugal(68), Italy(92), Greece(119)