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Oh boy, bad time to being saying this. All of the Americans on here have been hearing that Sweden is just better...it is so easy, "free" healthcare, "free" ever
by hogFeast 7y ago
Oh boy, bad time to being saying this. All of the Americans on here have been hearing that Sweden is just better...it is so easy, "free" healthcare, "free" everything...build a wall, make Goldman Sachs pay for it.
The reality is somewhere in the middle. Generally in Northern Europe, excluding UK, you have a history of huge (monopolistic) companies that dominate the economy. So you end up with labour policies that reflect that...which is kind of terrible for the way the world is going. If you could take the job market flexibility and social policy without the freeloading, that would be something...I am not sure anyone has done this. And btw, this model would bring the US to its knees. It will be interesting to watch if it occurs...but I also hope it doens't.
- alkonaut 7y agoIt’s very much true that Sweden’s labor laws are deeply influenced by a heritage of large industries like Ericsson, Volvo, SKF and the like. They work well when employers are large, employments are long. It’s equally true that these laws may not create a great climate for small tech startups. I don’t think there is an easy answer to how to liberalize the labor market without it damaging large groups of blue collar workers (which would make it politically impossible). Denmark has an interesting model where employment security is weaker but in return the safety net is better. I think this is where Sweden could be headed as well.