What is it to live in Sweden, a country where personal success does not change anything

Sweden

It was historically the model par excellence of the welfare state and, it can be said, of the Nordic locomotive. But now he has lost strength against his neighbors, who, according to some economic indicators, have begun to take advantage of it. Alfred Nobel's country, Ingmar Bergman, Greta Garbo and

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among others, came to occupy 7th place among the richest in the world in the early 70's, had a severe crisis in the 90s and corrected the course of time, but still has things today to adjust.

Sweden has a gross domestic product (GDP) per capita
Norway and
Denmark (US $ 50,000 versus 65,000 and 53,900, respectively, according to International Monetary Fund data). Regarding the unemployment rate, the two other countries that make up Scandinavia also show better figures: while the Swedish is at 6.28%, the Norwegian at 3.5% and the Danish at 4.8%.

But it's not just the cold current data that worries, but the "film" of the future. Behind the perfection of this Scandinavian country, there are certain cracks that in developing countries may seem a bit smaller, but which, if not corrected, can lead to Sweden's economic problems in a few decades. The first is that its citizens continue to be highly dependent on the state, something internalized by years of huge and expansive public spending (in the 70s, it was 30% of GDP, in 90% of cases 70% and today 48%).

Mark Hilding Ohlsson, an economist who lived in this country, tells anecdotes about the effect of several decades of welfare state on Swedes. "Speaking with a Swedish student, he said:" The state should take care of my parents when they are old and my children when they are children, it is not my responsibility. "Another student commented," If it must be normal, good or excellent, it does not affect me as much, it will not change much my economic future if I try harder. "

Conclusion? With the exception of the exceptions that remain, the Swedish economy suffers today from the lack of incentives from its citizens, which results in a weak initiative, a lack of motivation to progress and an undeveloped entrepreneurial spirit. In fact, there is a local word, "lagom", which simply means "to conform" or "to consider what is appropriate for them". "Of course, there are creative and enterprising Swedes, but they stress themselves as a fault their lack of motivation in general," said Hilding Ohlsson.

Ignacio Fuentes, a local guide, explained in a didactic way: "They mixed the best of capitalism with the best of socialism and gave them results for a long time, but now, what complicates them are the vices provoked by the Socialist part of this badtail The lack of initiative, the feeling that it is not worth making an effort because everything is settled, are seen very clearly in this society. "

Moreover, although the economic difference between working and not doing so is for many, very small or non-existent (due to the large social badistance received by the unemployed) and the cost of individual options is actually borne by others – taxpayers in general – It will be very difficult to put an end to the current wave of desertion.

This is not everything. Sweden needs to solve the problem of the gap between the active and the economically active population as soon as possible. The number of people leaving the labor market will be higher than that generated in the coming decades by an annual deficit of about 20 000 people, which corresponds to 0.4% of the active population. According to the experts, it is absolutely clear that the sharp increase in the population of retirees and seniors will put enormous pressure on a tax base that has become insufficient and vulnerable.

A third dilemma concerns the future financing of social services, given the impossibility of broadening the Swedish State's tax base much further (the tax burden is 44%, Denmark has exceeded this threshold by only 46%). ). This is why a company like Sweden can gradually become an underdeveloped country in social services if it is determined to limit its funding to that which can pay taxes.

Immigration is another challenge for this country, whose GDP is 65.4% for services, 33% for industry and only 1.6% for agriculture. Beyond the sociological implications that this has, in the economic part, it has already been badyzed to appeal to a special system that excludes immigrants from quick access to social benefits or to effect a total change of the system of health care, and then demand compensation for social badistance.

Beyond these pending adjustments, a visit to
Stockholm, the Swedish capital, to experience life in one of the world's best quality of life: efficient and impeccable public transport, clean, tidy streets, neighborhoods sheltering the so-called green homes clean energy and, in addition, optimize and regulate energy expenditure; the opportunity to drink the purest water in any public tap (in supermarkets, there is almost no sale of water for this reason).

And this is not only what can be seen and felt, but also what matters to those who live there. Sources report that every child born in Sweden receives a sum of money from the state (help that will be maintained until it has reached the legal age); Any couple with a child may have a large license, paid for by the state and not by the company that employs it (the first three months, the mother, the other two months, the father and the next six months may be interspersed with the mother ).

But one of the things that has most impressed visitors to this country these days, 10th in the regional ranking of economic freedom (its neighbor Denmark is 6th), is that you can go through Sweden without touching a single ticket or currency because he embarks on a crusade against the physical currency (today, only 1% of all transactions are paid with him). There is no minimum required or anything like this: it is possible to pay for a chewing gum at a cafe with a card.

The young Swedes have gone further and have also neglected debit and credit cards: they pay everything with their mobile phone, via an application called Swish. In English, "swish" means "whistle", a whistle that warns Swedes that their well-liked social welfare needs some adjustments so that their economy does not continue to lose strength.