3 ms·

I love it how The Economist often runs articles trying to prove that excellent living conditions in nordic countries are all about "pro-business reforms" and ha

I love it how The Economist often runs articles trying to prove that excellent living conditions in nordic countries are all about "pro-business reforms" and have nothing to do with their well known welfare states. Ahh, The Economist...

lprubin 14y ago
That article mentioned plenty of welfare policies. "Universal free education allows students of all backgrounds to achieve their potential. Separate taxation of spouses puts wives on an equal footing with their husbands. Universal day care for children makes it possible for both parents to work full-time." In fact the conclusion of the article was this: "Economists frequently express puzzlement about the Nordic countries’ recent economic success, given that their governments are so big... Goran Persson, a former Swedish prime minister, once compared Sweden’s economy with a bumblebee—“with its overly heavy body and little wings, supposedly it should not be able to fly—but it does.” Today it is fighting fit and flying better than it has done for decades."
jupiterjaz 14y ago
I don't know what you're reading. That article had plenty on the large welfare states.
mongol 14y ago
If you would read the articles you would see that they emphasize the change in policy in the last 20 years. That is the main thing I think you should take away from them - it is clear to me when the following outside discourse that the view of politics in Sweden is coloured by how it worked 40-20 years ago. It works radically different now, and the change started somewhere between 1990 and 1994 - coinciding with first a tax reform, then 3 year conservative-liberal government and a banking crisis. I don't mean that one caused the other, but these reforms together put Sweden on a path that obviously is not that well known abroad.

3 ms·

I love it how The Economist often runs articles trying to prove that excellent living conditions in nordic countries are all about "pro-business reforms" and ha

by galactus 14y ago

lprubin 14y ago
That article mentioned plenty of welfare policies. "Universal free education allows students of all backgrounds to achieve their potential. Separate taxation of spouses puts wives on an equal footing with their husbands. Universal day care for children makes it possible for both parents to work full-time." In fact the conclusion of the article was this: "Economists frequently express puzzlement about the Nordic countries’ recent economic success, given that their governments are so big... Goran Persson, a former Swedish prime minister, once compared Sweden’s economy with a bumblebee—“with its overly heavy body and little wings, supposedly it should not be able to fly—but it does.” Today it is fighting fit and flying better than it has done for decades."
jupiterjaz 14y ago
I don't know what you're reading. That article had plenty on the large welfare states.
mongol 14y ago
If you would read the articles you would see that they emphasize the change in policy in the last 20 years. That is the main thing I think you should take away from them - it is clear to me when the following outside discourse that the view of politics in Sweden is coloured by how it worked 40-20 years ago. It works radically different now, and the change started somewhere between 1990 and 1994 - coinciding with first a tax reform, then 3 year conservative-liberal government and a banking crisis. I don't mean that one caused the other, but these reforms together put Sweden on a path that obviously is not that well known abroad.