What about the relationship of populism to economic hardship? Does economic crisis breed populism? One can make an interesting observation that the recent rise of populism is widespread, and not just contained in the countries experiencing the biggest economic difficulties. The country I know best, Finland, is a case in point.
Finland was recently named – for what is worth, I don’t know how much – in the World Happiness Report the “happiest country in the world”, for the second year in a row. In this ranking, all Nordic countries have fared well over the years.