why would this be surprising? Don't believe for a second that the USA has a generally more liberal financial market than Scandinavia. Employment laws, trade, regulations, etc. are often wayyy less strict in Scandinavia.
It shouldn't be surprising, but American political discourse has unfortunately latched onto an extremely simplistic univariate model of economic policy. There's a common background assumption that redistribution, public ownership, fiscal policy, and all varieties of regulation rise or fall together.
why would this be surprising? Don't believe for a second that the USA has a generally more liberal financial market than Scandinavia. Employment laws, trade, regulations, etc. are often wayyy less strict in Scandinavia.