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Swedish Welfa Some Find It More Rewarding Not to Work
http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/2027
Swedish Welfa Some Find It More Rewarding Not to Work From the desk of The Brussels Journal on Wed, 2007-04-04 12:35 An article by Nima Sanandaji, the president of the Swedish think tank Captus In many European nations taxes, government regulation and public programs have expanded rapidly during the past 50 years. Many people today are dependent on government jobs and handouts whilst others are paying into the system year after year. The political discussion in Western European nations has focused on the short term interest of various interest groups. It might be useful to break the status quo of the political debate and ask ourselves what social model makes sense for Europe. Sweden is often used as an example of the modern European welfare state and might thus serve as a model for policies in Western Europe. Since the political landscape radicalized in the 60s an important change has occurred in the country. The high taxes and the generous welfare programs have led to a situation where the number of people of working age who are living off public welfare has risen from around 10 to over 20 percent. Reduced incentives to work and labour market regulations have also affected the situation for immigrants. Immigrants have gone from being a group who had a larger labour market participation and higher incomes from working compared with native Swedes to becoming a group that to a large degree lives off taxpayers' money. What are we trying to achieve through welfare programs and income redistribution? A report from the National Institute of Economic Research, a Swedish governmental organization, shows that the incentives to go from handouts to work are relatively small for Swedish workers. The report, published in December 2006, looks at a typical Swedish worker whose employer pays 300,000 Swedish Kronen in employer's tax and salary (corresponding to some 32,000 Euros). Under the past Socialdemocratic government this person would only gain 12 percent of the 300,000 by working rather than living off unemployment insurance. The reforms implemented by the recently elected center-right government would increase this figure, but only to 14 percent. If the salary of this worker including employer's tax is said to be around 14 Euros an hour and he or she worked a typical 8 hour work day, the reward for going to work would be less than 16 Euros per day. But there are also costs associated with working. Going out to lunch rather than staying at home to eat might cost an extra 4 Euros per day. Travel to work might bring on an additional expense of 5 Euros. The reward to the individual for a hard days' labour would thus shrink to only some 7 Euros for each day spent working. If the alternative to work is a black market job, there would be a considerable loss in going from unemployment to employment. A recent survey in Sweden showed that a majority of company owners have experienced that people come to job interviews for employment that they are clearly not interested in. The motivation for turning up to these interviews is rather to convince the government that they are actively seeking employment. This is the result of a system that barely rewards the individuals who work. The European welfare states are based on the idea that individuals only make use of welfare programs when they absolutely need to and that the strong work ethic prevents people from taking advantage of the system. But people slowly adapt to the system and the work ethic declines in view of the low rewards for hard work. We must ask ourselves if this situation is what Sweden's welfare programs were constructed for. Is it reasonable that welfare systems originally designed to help the very poorest now encompass a large fraction of the national economy? Is it fair that hard work is punished whereas dependence is rewarded? There is a need for a moral and principled discussion of the social system that exists in Sweden and that is mirrored in most European nations. * Writers: o Chresten Anderson, Copenhagen o Ernest Baert, London o Alexandra Colen, Brussels o Fjordman, Norway o Chris Gillibrand, Brussels o Hjörtur Gudmundsson, Reykjavik o Daniel Hannan, London o Elaib Harvey, Brussels o Martin Helme, Tallinn o Waldemar Ingdahl, Stockholm o Filip van Laenen, Oslo o Carlo Stagnaro, Turin 22 hours 54 min ago |
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Swedish Welfa about the economy
"PJ O'Donovan" skrev i meddelandet oups.com... http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/2027 Swedish Welfa Some Find It More Rewarding Not to Work From the desk of The Brussels Journal on Wed, 2007-04-04 12:35 Could be possibly interesting for Mr O`Donovan to know about the Swedish economy. There's a plus in the trade balance against the outside at an amount of around 170billion SEK/year. There's a plus in the government finances at the amount of 64 billion SEK/y . The currency have gained against the USD from around 11SEK a few y ago until today's 6,94 against the US$. So what's used in the country is paid from the country itself. |
#3
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Swedish Welfa about the economy
Lennart Petersen wrote: "PJ O'Donovan" skrev i meddelandet oups.com... http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/2027 Swedish Welfa Some Find It More Rewarding Not to Work From the desk of The Brussels Journal on Wed, 2007-04-04 12:35 Could be possibly interesting for Mr O`Donovan to know about the Swedish economy. There's a plus in the trade balance against the outside at an amount of around 170billion SEK/year. There's a plus in the government finances at the amount of 64 billion SEK/y . The currency have gained against the USD from around 11SEK a few y ago until today's 6,94 against the US$. So what's used in the country is paid from the country itself. Besides which unemployment is low, standard of living high, and the economy is generally booming. Sweden has a large number of big top - class companies. A real success story as compared to the world's most powerful Third World country (the USA)...Sweden could teach the world some lessons on how to run a successful country. They've managed to handle well problems that other sclerotic European countries (France, Germany...) have deemed "intractable... IIRC Sweden is home to Europe's richest person (IIRC the guy that owns H & M)...which proves that both private wealth and state enterprises can exist well side - by - side... :-) As for Peej's "Brussels Journal", it is hardly a news source, just apparently the natterings of some old right - wing bloggers. As a "news" source it's risible at best... -- Best Greg |
#4
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Swedish Welfa about the economy
Make credence recognised that on Thu, 05 Apr 2007 14:25:11 GMT,
"Lennart Petersen" has scripted: "PJ O'Donovan" skrev i meddelandet roups.com... http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/2027 Swedish Welfa Some Find It More Rewarding Not to Work From the desk of The Brussels Journal on Wed, 2007-04-04 12:35 Could be possibly interesting for Mr O`Donovan to know about the Swedish economy. There's a plus in the trade balance against the outside at an amount of around 170billion SEK/year. There's a plus in the government finances at the amount of 64 billion SEK/y . The currency have gained against the USD from around 11SEK a few y ago until today's 6,94 against the US$. So what's used in the country is paid from the country itself. With all the growth of the USA, it's still going further and further into debt. I never quite figured that one out. -- --- DFM - http://www.deepfriedmars.com --- -- |
#5
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Swedish Welfa about the economy
"Gregory Morrow" wrote in message hlink.net... Lennart Petersen wrote: "PJ O'Donovan" skrev i meddelandet oups.com... http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/2027 Swedish Welfa Some Find It More Rewarding Not to Work From the desk of The Brussels Journal on Wed, 2007-04-04 12:35 Could be possibly interesting for Mr O`Donovan to know about the Swedish economy. There's a plus in the trade balance against the outside at an amount of around 170billion SEK/year. There's a plus in the government finances at the amount of 64 billion SEK/y . The currency have gained against the USD from around 11SEK a few y ago until today's 6,94 against the US$. So what's used in the country is paid from the country itself. Besides which unemployment is low, standard of living high, and the economy is generally booming. Sweden has a large number of big top - class companies. A real success story as compared to the world's most powerful Third World country (the USA)...Sweden could teach the world some lessons on how to run a successful country. They've managed to handle well problems that other sclerotic European countries (France, Germany...) have deemed "intractable... IIRC Sweden is home to Europe's richest person (IIRC the guy that owns H & M)...which proves that both private wealth and state enterprises can exist well side - by - side... :-) As for Peej's "Brussels Journal", it is hardly a news source, just apparently the natterings of some old right - wing bloggers. As a "news" source it's risible at best... -- Best Greg Ingvar Kamprad, Europe's richest person and the founder of Ikea is a Swedish citizen, but has lived in Switzerland since 1976. He isn't dumb enough to live in Sweden and pay for the social welfare state with his money. And how is Sweden any better run than Denmark or Norway? |
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Swedish Welfa about the economy
"Deeply Filled Mortician" wrote in message ... With all the growth of the USA, it's still going further and further into debt. I never quite figured that one out. A vast and expensive military fighting expensive wars far from home... -- William Black I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Barbeques on fire by the chalets past the castle headland I watched the gift shops glitter in the darkness off the Newborough gate All these moments will be lost in time, like icecream on the beach Time for tea. |
#7
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Swedish Welfa about the economy
"Gregory Morrow" wrote in message hlink.net... Lennart Petersen wrote: "PJ O'Donovan" skrev i meddelandet oups.com... http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/2027 Swedish Welfa Some Find It More Rewarding Not to Work From the desk of The Brussels Journal on Wed, 2007-04-04 12:35 Could be possibly interesting for Mr O`Donovan to know about the Swedish economy. There's a plus in the trade balance against the outside at an amount of around 170billion SEK/year. There's a plus in the government finances at the amount of 64 billion SEK/y . The currency have gained against the USD from around 11SEK a few y ago until today's 6,94 against the US$. So what's used in the country is paid from the country itself. Besides which unemployment is low, standard of living high, and the economy is generally booming. Sweden has a large number of big top - class companies. A real success story as compared to the world's most powerful Third World country (the USA)...Sweden could teach the world some lessons on how to run a successful country. They've managed to handle well problems that other sclerotic European countries (France, Germany...) have deemed "intractable... IIRC Sweden is home to Europe's richest person (IIRC the guy that owns H & M)...which proves that both private wealth and state enterprises can exist well side - by - side... :-) I fail to see how the fact that Europe's most successful businessman happens to have been born in Sweden proves anything at all about the rest of the econony in that country (though it might say something about its education system). And as someone else has said, with wealth tax to pay, he'd have to be mad to remain living in Sweden (which he doesn't). tim |
#8
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Swedish Welfa about the economy
"tim....." skrev i meddelandet ... "Gregory Morrow" wrote in message hlink.net... Lennart Petersen wrote: "PJ O'Donovan" skrev i meddelandet oups.com... http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/2027 Swedish Welfa Some Find It More Rewarding Not to Work From the desk of The Brussels Journal on Wed, 2007-04-04 12:35 Could be possibly interesting for Mr O`Donovan to know about the Swedish economy. There's a plus in the trade balance against the outside at an amount of around 170billion SEK/year. There's a plus in the government finances at the amount of 64 billion SEK/y . The currency have gained against the USD from around 11SEK a few y ago until today's 6,94 against the US$. So what's used in the country is paid from the country itself. Besides which unemployment is low, standard of living high, and the economy is generally booming. Sweden has a large number of big top - class companies. A real success story as compared to the world's most powerful Third World country (the USA)...Sweden could teach the world some lessons on how to run a successful country. They've managed to handle well problems that other sclerotic European countries (France, Germany...) have deemed "intractable... IIRC Sweden is home to Europe's richest person (IIRC the guy that owns H & M)...which proves that both private wealth and state enterprises can exist well side - by - side... :-) I fail to see how the fact that Europe's most successful businessman happens to have been born in Sweden proves anything at all about the rest of the econony in that country (though it might say something about its education system). And as someone else has said, with wealth tax to pay, he'd have to be mad to remain living in Sweden (which he doesn't). tim Wealth tax is now abolished... |
#9
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Swedish Welfa about the economy
"catalpa" skrev i meddelandet news:97mRh.7222$jZ3.5815@trnddc06... "Gregory Morrow" wrote in message hlink.net... Lennart Petersen wrote: "PJ O'Donovan" skrev i meddelandet oups.com... http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/2027 Swedish Welfa Some Find It More Rewarding Not to Work From the desk of The Brussels Journal on Wed, 2007-04-04 12:35 Could be possibly interesting for Mr O`Donovan to know about the Swedish economy. There's a plus in the trade balance against the outside at an amount of around 170billion SEK/year. There's a plus in the government finances at the amount of 64 billion SEK/y . The currency have gained against the USD from around 11SEK a few y ago until today's 6,94 against the US$. So what's used in the country is paid from the country itself. Besides which unemployment is low, standard of living high, and the economy is generally booming. Sweden has a large number of big top - class companies. A real success story as compared to the world's most powerful Third World country (the USA)...Sweden could teach the world some lessons on how to run a successful country. They've managed to handle well problems that other sclerotic European countries (France, Germany...) have deemed "intractable... IIRC Sweden is home to Europe's richest person (IIRC the guy that owns H & M)...which proves that both private wealth and state enterprises can exist well side - by - side... :-) As for Peej's "Brussels Journal", it is hardly a news source, just apparently the natterings of some old right - wing bloggers. As a "news" source it's risible at best... -- Best Greg Ingvar Kamprad, Europe's richest person and the founder of Ikea is a Swedish citizen, but has lived in Switzerland since 1976. He isn't dumb enough to live in Sweden and pay for the social welfare state with his money. And how is Sweden any better run than Denmark or Norway? Why must it be better run ? And who compared with Denmark,Norway ? Or compared at all ? All I said was that trade balance with the outside is excellent, so is also governments finances and so are also my private savings. I can afford to travel anywhere in the world without problem and still have a good life so what's the problem , if there's a problem ? |
#10
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Swedish Welfa about the economy
"Lennart Petersen" wrote in message ... "tim....." skrev i meddelandet ... "Gregory Morrow" wrote in message hlink.net... Lennart Petersen wrote: "PJ O'Donovan" skrev i meddelandet oups.com... http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/2027 Swedish Welfa Some Find It More Rewarding Not to Work From the desk of The Brussels Journal on Wed, 2007-04-04 12:35 Could be possibly interesting for Mr O`Donovan to know about the Swedish economy. There's a plus in the trade balance against the outside at an amount of around 170billion SEK/year. There's a plus in the government finances at the amount of 64 billion SEK/y . The currency have gained against the USD from around 11SEK a few y ago until today's 6,94 against the US$. So what's used in the country is paid from the country itself. Besides which unemployment is low, standard of living high, and the economy is generally booming. Sweden has a large number of big top - class companies. A real success story as compared to the world's most powerful Third World country (the USA)...Sweden could teach the world some lessons on how to run a successful country. They've managed to handle well problems that other sclerotic European countries (France, Germany...) have deemed "intractable... IIRC Sweden is home to Europe's richest person (IIRC the guy that owns H & M)...which proves that both private wealth and state enterprises can exist well side - by - side... :-) I fail to see how the fact that Europe's most successful businessman happens to have been born in Sweden proves anything at all about the rest of the econony in that country (though it might say something about its education system). And as someone else has said, with wealth tax to pay, he'd have to be mad to remain living in Sweden (which he doesn't). tim Wealth tax is now abolished... damn, that was one of the reasons why I left. You mean that it is safe to go back now! tim |
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