by Dan Mitchell | Mar 18, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Welfare and Entitlements
Sweden is an odd country, at least from the perspective of public policy. On the positive side, it has private Social Security accounts. It has an admirable school choice system. And it was a good role model of spending restraint back in the 1990s. But on the negative...
by Dan Mitchell | May 21, 2014 | Blogs, Europe
While I mostly focus on bad government policy in the United States, I also think we can learn lessons from what’s happening in other nations. In some cases, I share positive stories, such as the success of privatized Social Security in Australia, nationwide school...
by Dan Mitchell | Mar 12, 2014 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, States, Taxation
When I first started working on fiscal policy in the 1980s, I never thought I would consider Sweden any sort of role model. It was the quintessential cradle-to-grave welfare state, much loved on the left as an example for America to follow. But Sweden suffered a...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 14, 2012 | Economics
In my travels through Europe, I often wind up debating whether policy is better in the United States or Europe. I generally try to explain that this is the wrong comparison, both because Europe is not a monolithic bloc and also because most individual nations have...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 15, 2012 | Blogs, Economics, Free Market
Sweden has a very large and expensive welfare state, but it’s actually becoming a bit of a role model for economic reform. I’ve already commented on the country’s impressive school choice system and noted that the Swedes have partially privatized their Social Security...
