Future Retirement Success
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks

Future Retirement Success

Investing

Debunking the Myth of Swedish Socialism—Again

by August 17, 2023
August 17, 2023

Johan Norberg

Whenever I lecture around the world, whatever I talk about, there is almost always someone in the audience who wants to ask me about Sweden. Is it the successful example of socialism that many assume?

I try to explain that we have been socialists and we’ve been successful—but never at the same time.

I’ve written about this in a Cato Policy Report and I’ve done a documentary about it for U.S. public television, but people keep asking me. So I decided that I had to write a book about it for the Fraser Institute to tell the whole story, The Mirage of Swedish Socialism: The Economic History of a Welfare State.

And it’s actually one of the best examples we have of the benefits of free markets and the perils of socialism. Between 1870 and 1970, Sweden had a smaller government and a more open economy than most comparable countries, and that was the era when Sweden grew faster than any other developed country but Japan.

Then, when Sweden had already become one of the richest countries in the world, Sweden began to experiment with socialist ideas. From 1970 through 1990, government was massively expanded, taxes were raised, and the economy was regulated. This was not the golden era of socialist nostalgia, but more like an Atlas Shrugged moment: Swedish companies like IKEA and Tetra Pak and lots of successful entrepreneurs left Sweden and not a single net job was created in the private sector. It was the one moment in Sweden’s modern history that we lagged behind other countries.

After a devastating financial crisis in the early 1990s, politicians from both the left and right agreed to end this experiment. Instead, they reduced public spending, taxes, and regulation to get back to the growth model that made Sweden successful. Sweden started to outperform its neighbors again.

If Bernie Sanders and AOC wants to imitate actually existing Sweden today, they would have to liberalize markets in many ways, reform Social Security, introduce school vouchers, get rid of the minimum wage and most occupational licensing, and abolish taxes on inheritance and property.

Sweden still has a bigger welfare state than the United States, but the receivers pay for it themselves. The tax burden falls heavily on low‐ and middle‐​income households in Sweden, making the tax system much less progressive than in the United States and almost all other rich countries.

The lesson Swedes took from the 1970s was that you can have a big government or you can make the rich pay for it all, but you can’t have both.

I explain this history and detail how Sweden’s welfare state works in the book, but if you want the shortest possible takeaway from Sweden’s modern political history, listen to Kjell‐​Olof Feldt, Social Democratic Minister of Finance (1983–1990): “What we believed in as young socialists simply turned out to be impossible in practice.”

0
FacebookTwitterGoogle +Pinterest
previous post
How to Use the A-B-C Corrective Pattern to Improve Your Entry Points
next post
Heads Up! 10-Year Treasury Yield Could Go All the Way to FIVE Percent?

You may also like

The HALT Fentanyl Act Doubles Down on Denialism

May 26, 2023

David Boaz’s Legacy of Liberty

June 7, 2024

Will Vermont Be the Next State to Permit...

May 2, 2024

Former Intel CEO Calls for a US Sovereign...

July 30, 2025

Supreme Court Clarifies Murky “Waters of the United...

May 26, 2023

New Survey: Private School Enrollment Grew from the...

March 26, 2024

The New Deal and Recovery, Part 27: Deposit...

March 28, 2023

Politically Driven Rate Cuts Will Erode Trust in...

June 18, 2025

In Yale University ERISA Case, Plaintiffs Lose but...

July 19, 2023

Don’t Reward the Government for Hiding Constitutional Violations

March 21, 2024

    Get free access to all of the retirement secrets and income strategies from our experts! or Join The Exclusive Subscription Today And Get the Premium Articles Acess for Free

    By opting in you agree to receive emails from us and our affiliates. Your information is secure and your privacy is protected.

    Recent Posts

    • CDC Director Susan Monarez refuses to be fired as other officials call it quits

      August 28, 2025
    • Bill Gates met with Trump to talk ‘importance of US global health programs and health research’: spox

      August 28, 2025
    • Trump asks SCOTUS to uphold freeze on billions in USAID payments

      August 27, 2025
    • Three Years of Sounding the Debt Alarm at Cato and on the Debt Dispatch

      August 27, 2025
    • Trump Administration Rightly Attacks EU Tech Regulations but Tariffs and Censorship at Home Harm Americans 

      August 27, 2025
    • White House demands all Gaza hostages return home ‘this week’ amid stalled talks

      August 27, 2025

    Categories

    • Business (8,897)
    • Investing (2,246)
    • Politics (16,503)
    • Stocks (3,228)
    • About us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions

    Disclaimer: futureretirementsuccess.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

    Copyright © 2025 futureretirementsuccess.com | All Rights Reserved