Robert Sundstrom

I find it hard to accept the economic ignorance in Sweden - where I live. I feel sorry for everyone else in this world who feel the same about the countries in which they live. The world is runned by people who don't know where their money come from - profit. Let us, for example, have a look at the debate about profits in the welfare sector. Both Left and Right are generally very split in this question. They are are quite passive because they know it is impossible to impose restrictions like these because if they did then it would bring negative consequences to the economy. Jobs would be lost and taxes too. No company would want to run under profit restrictions and certainly not as a non-profit. Recently, the largest labor union organisation, Swedish Trade Union Confederation (Landsorganisationen, LO), with ties to the Social Democratic party, said that they oppose profits in welfare. To show you the height of the economic ignorance of labor unions, I give yout this fresh quote taken from national televison: "[...] Profit is not the driving force." - Tobias Baudin, First vice chairman of Swedish Trade Union Confederation (Landsorganisationen, LO) (inofficially ties to the Social Democrats) , in SVT Rapport (15/1, 19.30) on forbidding profit in welfare. Clip: http://www.svtplay.se/video/949836/15-1-19-30 (Swedish) More on LO: http://www.lo.se/ If they really think so then I propose that they start to work for free. Any comments? Please share!

I remember listening to a call-in show a while ago where a guy, who previously had been living in Sweden, talked about his perceptions of the country. Stefan did a short citation from an old paper about Sweden (from Mises.org) and the guy requested an analysis of the Swedish ystem. This analysis is something I'm very much in favor of. As an enlightened Swede, I'm genuinely concerned about the state of things in the area - the state, political system. I would therefore appreciate a overall analysis made by an outlander voluntaryist perspective. I therefore suggest some sources that I find worth looking at, or at least knowing that they exist. (Some in Swedish, Google Translate might be useful to some extent) But first, here are some points worth mentioning about the state of the current political discussion in Sweden: Established political parties have been aggresively covering-up failed immigration policy since the populist Sweden Democrats entered the Riksdag (the parliament). Silenced critique about free speech as the established press spread ignorance. They set the agenda for discussions. The Assange case (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assange_v_Swedish_Prosecution_Authority) There are some official government-runned sources for information. http://www.sweden.se/ (Official portal - About how it works in Sweden) http://www.government.se/ http://www.riksdagen.se/en/ (Parliament) http://www.riksbank.se/en/ (Central bank) http://www.scb.se/default____2154.aspx (SCB: Statistics Sweden - Government owned) Swedish news in English: http://www.thelocal.se/Most popular televison channels. News programs sorted under: http://www.svt.se/ (government-owned) http://www.svt.se/rapport/ http://www.svt.se/aktuellt/ (in-depth) http://www.tv4.se/ (first private TV channel, founded in 1990, when the TV monopoly ended) http://www.tv4.se/nyheterna Biggest news papers (in Swedish): http://www.dn.se/ http://www.svd.se/ http://www.expressen.se/ Places for debating, publishing articles (in Swedish): http://www.newsmill.se/ (maybe the most pupular one) http://debatt.svt.se/ (government-owned TV) This is a publication that I find interesting. It brings some critique about the welfare tax system from a historical perspective. http://www.libera.fi/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Libera_The-Swedish-model.pdf (Recommendation at Mises.org http://archive.mises.org/18688/why-sweden-is-not-a-wreck/)Some Wikipedia articles about Sweden and the system: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweden http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Sweden http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Sweden http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_krona http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_agencies_in_Sweden http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Sweden http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riksdag http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Sweden http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_Sweden http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_welfare_in_Sweden http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration#Sweden http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_policy_of_Sweden Largest opposing political parties: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_Social_Democratic_Worker%27s_Party (Ruled Sweden fo 90 years on and off (just a few times), controlled the State apparatus) Former coalition formed in response to The Alliance (never got power): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-green_alliance_(Sweden) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moderate_Party Government coalition (current since 2006): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliance_for_Sweden http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweden_Democrats (Black sheep, dubbed "Threat to Sweden") Own block. About Free Speech and Free press: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_speech_by_country#Sweden http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_in_Sweden http://www.freedominfo.org/regions/europe/sweden/ (I did not really check this) Reason.com has published some articles and videos about Sweden: http://reason.com/blog/2010/03/08/so-why-is-the-swedish-welfare ("So Why Is the Swedish Welfare State So Successful?".) (Sweden's March Towards Capitalism: Economist Andreas Bergh on the "Capitalist Welfare State") (Johan Norberg - Swedish Myths and Realities) (Sweden: A Supermodel for America?) Mises.org http://mises.org/daily/2259 http://mises.org/daily/2190 http://mises.org/daily/4936 Cato Institute: http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/swedish-model http://www.cato.org/blog/swedens-big-welfare-state-superior-americas-medium-welfare-state-then-why-do-swedes-america http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-160.html (Sweden: From Capitalist Success to Welfare-State Sclerosis) (Analysis) http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/how-sweden-profits-profit-schools I don't know if the following is a joke, but I include it anyway: http://theswedishparty.org/ (American party) - What do you think? These is certainly not everything, but they are some sources I think of. Sorry, if some might not en up useful.