Sweden and its population of 11 million has embraced capitalism.
According to Wall Street Journal, nearly half of primary healthcare clinics are privately owned, many by private-equity firms.
Meanwhile, one in three public high schools is privately run, up from 20% in 2011, and the size of government has shrunk.
One person not surprised by this is David Burton, senior research fellow at Advancing American Freedom (AAF). He's been watching what he described as "substantial improvements in economic policy" in Sweden for nearly 25 years.
Sweden is not alone in moving toward capitalism.
"It's also true in Denmark and Norway," Burton told AFN. "They still have generally higher taxes, but in many respects they're more free than the United States."
Other think tanks have seen the progress in Sweden.
The Heritage Foundation Index of Economic Freedom ranks Sweden better than the United States overall. The Fraser Institute, which is a Canadian think tank, ranks the U.S. better, but Sweden's still among the freest countries in the world.
"They do have higher taxes, which is probably their most economically counterproductive factor, but in terms of permitting and labor and employment laws and a lot of other things, they're better than the United States now," said Burton.
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) has for years pushed for the U.S. government to be more like Sweden. For example, Sanders favors the democratic socialism of Sweden, as well as its healthcare system, social safety net, and standard of living for workers.
"Senator Sanders doesn't have his facts straight," said Burton. "Sanders, in effect, wants to go down the model of France, where the government is vastly more intrusive and the taxes are vastly higher than even in Sweden, and virtually everything is regulated."
