he states that there have been no new net jobs in private industry since 1950, and yet, in 2002, Sweden had an unemployment rate of 4% according to the CIA.
No net new private sector jobs. There has been an increase in government jobs.
Of course, he fails to mention that while the Swedes' income might be less than Amer. blacks, many of the basics like health insurance are paid by the gov't so that Swedes have more disposable income to be spent on consumer goods than many middle class Americans.
"...then many middle class Americans." is rather meaningless. Then are over 100mil. middle class adults in the US. There are going to be many of them that are poorer then quite a few Swedes. Yes a lot of Swedish expenses are paid for by the government but that money comes out of taxes. Sweden's per capita pre-tax income is much less then that the pre-tax income in the US. Their per capita GDP (from the CIA fact book's 2002 purchasing power parity statistics) is almost 30% lower, and those government benefits have to come out of the GDP they are not on top of the GDP.
In the articles you posted, several references are made suggesting that Sweden is a socialistic state. Funny thing, according to the CIA, 90% of Sweden's industrial output is in private hands.
With 10% of industrial output in the hands of the government, high taxes, and an extensive welfare state they are rather socialist. Would I outright call their system socialist? Probably not but they have a very large component of socialism which puts a drag on their economy.
.it insures a better living standard for the entire population in general and not just for a few.
At most it insures a better living standard for those at the bottom, not for the entire population. The average standard of living is better in the US.
Also you ignored the statements about crime rates and the following points -
"None of top 50 companies on the Stockholm stock exchange has been started since 1970."
"...well over 1 million people out of a work force of around four million did not work in 2003 but lived on various kinds of public welfare programs, such as, pre-pension schemes, unemployment benefits, sick-leave programs, etc."
"Sweden has dropped from fourth to 14th place in 2002 among the OECD countries (i.e., affluent industrialized countries) in terms of GDP per capita since 1970."
The drop from near the top to the middle of the pack happened after Sweden's increases of taxes and welfare benefits. Before that they where near the top and growing as fast as the other OECD countries.
Tim |
