[mmarjala]

I don't think the internal service economy really increases a nation's value relative to other nations. If I buy a t-shirt from my neighbor and he repays by cleaning my house ... not really that scalable I think.

A key requirement IMHO for a functional service economy is high enough differences in salaries (so that there are people who can afford to buy services in scale) and low-cost workers. In Finland, and broader in Nordics, we don't have either.