(NBER) National Bureau of Economic Research Conference Reports (CHUP)

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The Welfare State in Transition

by Richard B. Freeman, Robert H Topel, and Birgitta Swedenborg

Published 2 September 1997

Once heralded in the 1950s and 1960s as a model welfare state, Sweden is now in transition since its economic plunge in the early 1990s. This volume examines Sweden's economic problems from a US perspective, exploring such diverse topics as income equalization and efficiency, welfare and tax policy, wage determination and unemployment, and international competitiveness and growth. It considers how Sweden's welfare state succeeded in eliminating poverty and became a role model for other countries. The book then reflects on Sweden's past economic problems, such as the increase in government spending and the fall in industrial productivity. Finally it reviews the consequences of the collapse in Sweden's economy in the early 1990s, exploring the implications of its efforts to reform its welfare state and re-establish a healthy economy.