Source:
https://scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1090720/little-hope-progress-without-visionary-politicians
Comment/ Opinion

Little hope for progress without visionary politicians

Denmark is said to have most if not all of the social, political and economic institutions a developed country can desire. Photo: AFP

As a Cantonese saying goes, rice cooked by the aunt next door is always tastier. That may be why people always think Western city-states or countries are better run than their own. Still, sometimes the aunty next door really does cook better rice. So, what are those states worth emulating?

Among social scientists, this problem is sometimes called "getting to Denmark", after a classic paper by two World Bank social scientists who pointed out Denmark has most if not all of the social, political and economic institutions a developed country can desire, making it stable, peaceful, wealthy, social-democratic, anti-discriminatory and mostly free of corruption.