Scandinavia’s economies were early developers and are based disproportionately on high-added-value “primary” economic income. Their “capitalism” was more than just capitalism, it was the most advanced kind of industry that paid the highest. Culture certainly had a lot to do with this, exemplifying the argument of Max Weber about Protestant ethics and economic development.

It is a mistake of correlation and causation, to assume the way the revenues are spent, is the reason for the revenue. It is like saying that someone is rich because they bought a nice house. Certainly education has a positive feedback loop, but the value of education is not merely the dollars of taxpayers money spent on it. The culture among the educators matters, and the culture in the homes of the students matters even more.