 What are the Policy Lessons from Sweden? On the Rise, Fall and Revival of a Capitalist Welfare StateNew Political Economy, 2014, vol. 19, issue 5, 662-694 Abstract: This paper discusses a number of questions with regard to Sweden's economic and political development:• How did Sweden become rich?• What explains Sweden's high level of income equality?• What were the causes of Sweden's problems from 1970 to 1995?• How is it possible that Sweden, since the crisis of the early 1990s, is growing faster than most EU countries despite its high taxes and generous welfare state?These questions are analysed using recent insights from institutional economics, as well as studies of inequality and economic growth. The main conclusion is that there is little, if any, Swedish exceptionalism: Sweden became rich because of well-functioning capitalist institutions, and inequality was low before the expansion of the welfare state. The recent favourable growth record of Sweden, including the period of financial stress (2008-10), is a likely outcome of a number of far-reaching structural reforms implemented in the 1980s and 1990s. Date: 2014 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:cnpexx:v:19:y:2014:i:5:p:662-694 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from DOI: 10.1080/13563467.2013.849670 Access Statistics for this article New Political Economy is currently edited by Professor Colin Hay More articles in New Political Economy from Taylor & Francis Journals |
Is your work missing from RePEc? Here is how to contribute.
Questions or problems? Check the EconPapers FAQ or send mail to .
EconPapers is hosted by the
School of Business at Örebro University.