Will Tanner writes:
At face value, the Swedish welfare state is an unlikely poster child for sustainable government. In 2011-12, government spending was 53.1 per cent of GDP, paid for by taxes on the average worker of 42.7 per cent. The country’s “cradle to grave” social security system has long been used as evidence that government can and should be bigger, not smaller. Despite this, the Swedish state is showing policymakers the world over how to deliver high quality services at low cost.
Read more at Sweden has reformed its welfare state to deliver both efficiency and equity – the UK should learn from its example. | EUROPP.
We are heading in the same direction here in America…ObamaCare for ever for everyone!!!
Sweden is moving away from its welfare state policies of the past. The US is still miles away, but edging in the opposite direction.
Well when a government is the biggest component of the economy, there is little chance of long term economic stability. Governments always seek to control more and more aspects of our lives and the world we live in. They can only grow by increasing taxes. Sweden has very high tax rates and a declining manufacturing industry and job market. The day of reckoning for socialism in Sweden will come when tax revenues decline because the tax paying population becomes so small it cannot sustain such a voracious spending government. Perhaps the author could reveal how much of the social security budget is spent on so called assylum seekers. In Denmark, 55% of the budget is consumed by just 4% of the population, mainly people from Islamic countries who dont work but receive.
Sweden already had its day of reckoning and is moving away from welfare state policies.