>Having never been to Finland, I am in no position to judge for sure whether Finns have excessive aversion to risk<
I haven't been to Finland, either, but it's possible that the welfare state encourages working people to take risks, because they have a "safety net" to fall back on. (Hey, maybe I should try to be an artist! or write the Great Finnish Novel!) Capitalist sorts already have such a safety net (their personal wealth) so they wouldn't have a significantly greater tendency to take risks. But the "welfare state" may involve all sorts of government regulations that discourage risk-taking, especially when it's seen as socially detrimental. JD
