"Inspirational"

The NCPA reports on Sweden's "cradle to the grave" welfare system;

* Sweden's slope became most slippery from 1960 to 1980, when public spending increased from 31 percent of the economy to 60 percent in order to keep the Swedes rolling in government payments and to fund the bloated public sector.
* Sweden today ranks about equal with the fifth-poorest U.S. state in per capita income.
* Likewise, among the wealthy nations that make up the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), it slipped from fifth in income in 1970 to 15th in 2004.

This is the country Steve Maharey describes as "inspirational".
Perhaps when we are sitting at twentieth on the gdp per capita table, 15th does look pretty inspirational.