How are Scandinavian countries so prosperous despite not engaging in external colonialism ?

Question

How are Scandinavian countries so prosperous despite not engaging in external colonialism ?

In: Other

Answer 1

Being in the right place at the right time. I think the (somewhat lazy) thinkers attribute this to some form of colonialization. The better and more contemporary explanation is the global trade order and industrialization.

All of the countries have fairly small populations. They are mostly maritime nations. Trade and specialization allowed them to achieve high productivity and output through the latter half of the 20th century. This would not have been possible without a relatively stable trade order. Of course, Norway also had the benefit of lots of oil and gas.