AP Photo

The cut-throat versus cuddly capitalism distinction (Acemoglu et al. 2012) resonates with widely-held stereotypes. The US is a ‘mean streets’ sort of place to live but the law of the jungle approach to capitalism produces breakthrough innovations. European nations – especially Nordic nations – are just, social democratic societies, but comfort saps the life out of invention. Acemoglu et al. (2012) argue that advancing the technology frontier fast requires US style cut-throat capitalism and that cuddly Nordic economies are free-riding on US innovation.