Charlemagne the Swede
Charlemagne of the Economist seems to have had his feet swept away from under him by the Wonder of the Swedish State. (Exhibit 1, Exhibit 2). The Punchline:
The place never fails to impress: Stockholm combines extraordinary efficiency and organisation with a healthily relaxed view of life, plus a strong tang of the sea. It is a bit like crossing Zürich with Sydney.
Swiss-Australians? Hmm…
I would like to point to one thing which Charlemagne (who would be known as Stora Kalle in Sweden) misses in my opinion. The thing is that much of Swedish policy looks like a top-down affair, but I wonder if Sweden would really work if there wasn’t also a significant bottom-up element to Swedish policy and politics, i.e. a strong mobilisation of public sentiment. This is what makes comparisons between the former German Democratic Republic and Sweden so interesting: The SED tried to create a sort of make-believe Sweden but failed utterly because they a) lacked any kind of legitimacy in the first place and b) relied on top-down planning.
The question about transferability of policies is interesting, but you may want to ask if policies implemented by, say, the British or the US government don’t also have similar limitations.
Update: It gets better – economics and transparent government.
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