I was moved to write a brief response on an article about Denmark's future economic growth. It appeared in Weekendavisen February 5th 2010. Translation:
In a Weekendavisen article, CBS associate professor Mark Lorenzen is presented as a proponent for the view that Denmark's future economic growth should not be based primarily on risky high tech, but rather on the so-called creative sectors.
During the 1880's, the Confederation of Copenhagen's Industry was still governed mainly by the interests of the applied arts. The confederation's view was fundamentally, that "although the location of our country must be said to be favourable for great industrial development, our people is probably unfit for such activity given their soft character and indolent temper, since they are used to easily find food on our fertile lands". (Vagn Dybdahl in "Erhvervshistorisk Årbog 1980").
This state of affairs can arise again.