That’s not to take anything away from Denmark, which really is a very excellent country. But it seems to me more realistic to aspire to make the whole country more like the best parts of North America than to make the whole country more like the best parts of Western Europe. Among other things, looking at the best parts of America underscores the fact that one of the easiest ways to raise living standards would be to be simply allow for more housing development in high-wage parts of the country. The 27 percent wage premium the average low-skilled worker could earn by moving the Boston area is a huge deal but it’s not a practical option if there’s no affordable housing. In Europe, too, living standards would rise if it were easier for Portugese people to move to Denmark. But to achieve that they would need some kind of magic wand that caused Portugese people to speak Danish. Changing zoning codes is politically challenging, but much more feasible than that.
