The Swedish model - myths and realities - Johan Norberg

[@FMFSouthAfrica]

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[@oRBTo]

I enjoyed this far more than I thought I would. The Q&A session was fantastic. So refreshing to hear an objective voice.

[@Hirnlego999]

It's not an objective viewpoint, he is a rightwinger and he is deeply ideological.

[@echo1174]

Yep, Facts and Statistics are always ''Right-Wing''. What he is saying is right, I know the evidence. People who think that parts of Europe are ''Socialist'' don't know what Socialism is and they see a political party that uses the Word Socialism as a brand name and they make huge leaping conclusions. Having one of the worlds freest economies, More Free than the States by any measurement by the way but, having Nationalized Health Care for example, weather you agree with it or not, is not Socialism. Napoleonic France is the Proto-type, Communist Russia and China, Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany these are Socialist countries. Socialism is and always was meant to be a top down Techno-Feudalism. Only Conservative Christian Socialists, Quakers and Lutherans like the followers of Robert Owen in particular, promoted charity through public spending in an other wise open healthy society and economy but they were always accused of being ''Right-Wing''. The only people who were against Health care and Social security, Everyone from Marx to Lenin to people like Ralph Milliband, were the revolutionary Socialists. Americans, especially intellectuals on both sides of the fence and I mean no offence by this Americans, have taken the F. V. Hayek view ''All Socialism is just Big government'' to mean ''All Big government is just Socialism''. Add to that a complete lack of understanding of European political History, partly because Americans left Feudalism behind and forgot it still existed in Europe, in some cases up until the 20th century. Add to that countries like the UK, Sweden and Denmark and countries that the Bernie Saunders types like to call Socialism are in fact much more Capitalist and have much less Public spending than the Federal government of the USA and yeah, having a Social Democratic Party does not Make you a Socialist country just like the American definition of Liberal has absolutely nothing to do with being a Liberal at all. Before the terms Social Democrat become confused and conflated with the term Democratic Socialist there were huge differences. Most British Conservatives considered themselves Social Democrats and some still do. The Social Democrats were not Socialists, they wanted to promote and ''Socialize'' freedom and Democracy. They wanted Working class men and women to have property rights and have the right to defend themselves in a court room and the right to assembly and the right to have representation and the right to vote. The Democratic Socialists were Marxists who wanted to take away these rights from everybody including the middle class who were taking over the Aristocracy in wealth and station through the process of industrialization. The Democratic Socialists hated Democracy but saw it as a way to bring incremental changes towards Socialism with out violent revolution.

[@haraldbredsdorff2699]

Actually, when he talket about low crime rate, he was clearly left wing (or did not want to be arrested). The murder and rape rate have had an explosive growth the last 30 years, even if you remove terrorist attacks.

[@gilldavis1656]

@My Tube You don't visit Africa ever do you?

[@macvena]

The speaker made it clear that a free market, free trade, entrepreneurship, productivity is at the heart of the matter. The preconditions are extremely important to promote the aforementioned activities. The greatest stumbling blocks that Sweden overcame are what holds America back. A lack of conciliation, and cooperation by all interested parties who are able to actually effect change, i.e. Left and Right, Dems and Republicans, the numerous sub-groups in the population as complex and diverse as ours. The endless criticisms and accusations that we abuse ourselves with is preventing us from preserving the good, creating more good, ameliorating the problems that affect us all. The great divide is what is hurting us, because nothing gets done then. It isn't entirely the issues that we talk about daily. Those are, I think, the symptoms of the illness. The illness is acrimony, stubbornness, and hubris demonstrated by our individual certainty that "we know", "we must", etc.

[@Adrian-dl9nb]

Wish I could be this articulate, and intelligent.

[@georgevalco215]

Excellent video...very timely. Bernie Bros need to watch this!

[@memisemyself]

if you are going to film a Q&A session it's usually a good idea to make sure the questions can be heard in the video. Some solve the problem by the speaker repeating a summary of the question.

[@PaulJones-oj4kr]

Since this presentation, however, Sweden is circling the drain both socially and politically.

[@zofe]

Like any and every Feudal-Vassal society, it ends up a Caliphate.

[@allaboutmusicmovies9606]

In which way?

[@rasmus8208]

In what way ?If so where is the USA ? in the sewers I guess 🤔

[@Kelseashell]

Maybe so, however they were smart enough to become a rich country from nothing and will pick back up again. America on the other hand is already down the drain

[@kampferjimenez]

An excellent lecture; I learned a lot about Swedish economic model. The Q&A section was really good

[@nathanm4444]

It's a lot like in the Netherlands (except for recent scandals like the childcare scandal): people generally trust their representatives and institutions and this generally leads to a society where social services are better and extremely cheap. This in contrast to the US where people from everywhere in the political spectrum are extremely paranoid of the of government. Therefore everything gets very bureaucratic, everything needs to be checked for fraud at every part of the process. This results in the world's most expensive and fragmented health care market, where the bargaining power of the consumer dissappears. That is also because people expect each other to commit fraud all the time. I sense that this is different in Scandinavia and its liberal nephew, the Netherlands (in most respects NL is more similar to Denmark and Sweden than Germany or the UK).

[@nathanm4444]

But unfortunately our neoliberal party (VVD) gets more and more protectionist and favours more and more the traditional and big companies, stifling real innovation and competition. €900 million of green subsidies went to Vattenfall *for free* to help cheaply power green datacenters for Microsoft. A €3 billion loan to KLM Airline which is considered by investors to be extremely risky, which the state will probably not get back. Not letting the (free) capital market decide whether KLM is worth the effort but instead the government backs the company no one else will back. That is not the role of the state but we are seeing more of this behaviour. Extremely profitable company booking.com getting government subsidies which ultimately end up as bonuses for the board. Like we're France backing Renault. That was not our original idea of the state's purpose.

[@bruuh6291]

Did I understand him correctly that Sweden has a flat tax? So 25 percent for everybody not regarding their income? Or what was he referring to when he mentioned 'regressive value added tax' at around 23:25?

[@Dhjaru]

Value added tax. Think, sales tax

[@alexc5228]

we have 33% tax on income up to 540 000kr about 54k dollars per year if you earn more than that you get another 20% added on top. Sales tax varies most goods are 25% some 12% and few about 5%.

[@Pareshbpatel]

My Stereotypical perceptions of Sweden and Swedish people were, happily, destroyed. I have learned so much about this very nice bunch of people. My disdain for the Leftist Swede remains intact. Very enjoyable and illuminating talk. Thank you, Johan Norberg. PS I have followed this good, fair and just man for awhile now...

[@Hirnlego999]

He is full of BS Sweden is the best in the world at pretty much everything nordic.businessinsider.com/heres-everything-that-sweden-is-the-best-in-the-world-at--and-its-a-whole-lot-2017-6

[@PMMagro]

I take it you do not know about Swedens left really. It is foreign left that has some weird imaginary dreams about us/our country. It was never true and it is not now. Denmark, Norway etc are doing fine too. We are not any different from them.

[@giuliom3564]

@@Hirnlego999 He is a joke. And well paid for that.

[@say6hows7]

Does anyone know what pole he is citing regarding citizens willingness To take government money they are not entitled to

[@Marimilitarybrat]

This reminds me of what Jordan Peterson is saying in 2018. Be responsible, do your job and do it well, help other people

[@Phil_D_Waller]

thoroughly enjoyed this ..thanks

[@krileayn]

Great talk, but like most Swedes he's in denial about the impact of Muslim migrants on Swedish society.

[@bambee3501]

krileayn or youre obsessed with putting the blame on people - rather than focus your anger on the wars creating the immigration in the first place?

[@jabalimohamed1983]

It's not about the victims but the courses that creates refugees

[@destroya3303]

Thing with the Swedish voucher system, if it is already a very nearly equal society, why have government give out vouchers from your own money back to you? Isn't that silly? The only reason I can think of is government does this to keep control of the curriculum.

[@PMMagro]

I am a Swedish and on the left side politcally. This guy has many good points and should get more attentteion here in Sweden. When the Swedish left was really sucessfull we where always pragmatic. Long term and compromising. Free trade and not saving lost industry by subsidies etc. In my book we are back on track since 1990 or so. I particularly like Norbergs focus on how we tax and demand a lot from private citizens. Swedes personally pay a lot for our generous welfare system. He is 100% spot on regarding the young who do not have a lot to pay with and sacrifice. So they find the contract state - individual not so tempting for them. The society gave me and my school mates cheap housing when we left school, (an eductaion we got on VERy favorlable terms) not so anymore for the 20 or 25 year olds. So why shoudl they accept to work a lot and pay high taxes like we did? It is sound they do react!

[@MrPemellquist]

What is the overall raxation rate which includes VAT? The rates which Johan sites are only income based, 30 to 56 %.

[@andrecharpentier8711]

exite il une version francaise?

[@alberpajares4792]

You know that ¡’m really close to dutch-liberal model, point is that must admit the counter points: drug-turism, insecurity in the cities, mafias trying to control.., everything can be improved by the way,..

[@yankee1985524]

Well it certainly doesn't hurt that Sweden's military next to nothing on their military because they know they can rely on the United States to come and save them if anything happens.

[@rasmus8208]

2% of gdp

[@jaewok5G]

"Dial 'P' for Pip" - Mr. Robinson is a thief in the afterlife … of the Twilight Zone. one of my favorite episodes

[@howardroark4677]

This video is too quiet

[@ziggelito]

the tiresome argument of "we report rape differently" is absolute horseshit. rape and gang-rape has completely sky rocketed thanks to immigrants. this has been known for a long time, and they were vastly overrepresented as far back as 1989. the percentage of people who are immigrants in Sweden have increased. Less Swedes to choose as victims, and more immigrants to do the rape leads to more Swedes being the victims of rape percentage wise compared to earlier times

[@anwarsadat6825]

Sorry Happiness Indicator sucks. Some of the Middle East countries are the happiest too. Not just economic and social benefits are enough but it seems like if you provide enough religion people would be happy as well. It is a interesting idea but it makes sense only in context if classify countries beforehand somehow.

[@Zeta-qz6ci]

Well that is just your personal opinion. What is pointed out in this video would be the incredible difficulty to measure something as happiness. Its easy pointing out what you think is a happy place. Its difficult to prove it on the other hand.

[@anwarsadat6825]

I agree with you. It is very difficult if not impossible to measure happiness. Happiness is not like money that can simply be counted and compared across National Boundaries. Even there we have to adjust for Purchasing Power. It, Happiness, is way too nebulous a concept to measure effectively unless and until we classify countries where people have similar ideas of what constitutes happiness and then measure it and compare within the confines of the group of countries where Happiness is defined similarly.

[@rasmus8208]

@@anwarsadat6825 in what way have religion in history been about happiness? Despite weddings( unless one of them is forced to Marry the other)and baptism . I can understand when you live in a country whit nearly no money and food you turn to a higher power because even nothing will change you lite a hope . Just look at Norway for example my grandfather grew up there during ww2 they had nearly no industry they where fishermen and very religious but jump forward to when they found oil and living standard sky rocket to best in the world religion is just Christmas and easter and red days. Religion has just spread death and suffer we would be better without it

[@anwarsadat6825]

@@rasmus8208 I understand what you are saying. Religion is not just about happiness. It is designed to provide a balm to our short lives and impending demise, an appeal in times of pain and despair, etc. My point is that all these indices come with flaws. There can be religious or draconian leadership say a Singapore of yesteryears where people are quite satisfied with status quo but the measures that these Happiness Index are measuring freedom etc. will not reflect it. It is OK to try to measure such nebulous concepts but to think these are better or on par with hard data such as the economy and trade is a mistake. Bhutan I believe was one of the first one's to go for this measure. I really do not know if it is such a heaven on Earth. Personally I am a non-believer so I have no bias in favor of religion but it would be a mistake to think that it has not served a purpose in human history. Religion has not just spread death and suffering. It has done so but it has also brought about order and channelled resources at a time when Nation states were in their infancy and institutions that we today expect to function well were being developed. E.g. the idea that a God was keeping track of your sins perhaps prevented some crimes from being committed because the police was not likely to ever find the culprit. Even today this force is not inoperative. We are too early in our history to get rid of this institution. Perhaps in another 1000 years.

[@azaquihelify]

This was wayyyy to shallow, but thanks for the perspective

[@Pareshbpatel]

...and I thought I knew all there is to know about Sweden and the Swedes... I was dead wrong!

[@evanl734]

This guys speaking style is a lot like Peter Molyneux.

[@tdevry]

Freedomin South Africa? Great that has not turned into the succes story you wished.

[@punchdrunkatheist]

Why is that?

[@80sruler]

Well shit, I those this was about Swedish models

All about income levels hey...

[@appletree8441]

56% plus every tax on purchases..fees.. licences..etc.

[@mvmlego1212]

18:09 -- Has this guy been taking English lessons from Trump University? XD

[@ToeMichaelBurns]

Johan, you're beautiful inside and out.

[@ralvin9365]

Just get Volvo and ABBA to pay for everything.

[@jenspetersen5865]

Volvo is Chinese, and ABBA does not really pull that much any more.

[@rasmus8208]

@@jenspetersen5865 Volvo cars are Chinese Volvo group is still Swedish and much bigger and more profitable. And fun fact when it comes to abba Björn and Benny makes tens of million dollars in returns from companies they have invested/own every year

[@AnaIvanovic4ever]

When someone asks my ideology I say I'm a Johan Norberg liberal

[@AnaIvanovic4ever]

and with liberal I don't mean US Democratic Party, those guys are left of Swedish Social Democrats on many issues

[@AnaIvanovic4ever]

But no one in US seem to care about the important issues any more, morons like Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are the mayor parites representatives these days.

[@giuliom3564]

@@AnaIvanovic4ever Usa democratic party is much more conservative than Swedish social democratic party. Norberg doesn't give a good information about Sweden and economics. He mostly makes neoliberal propaganda.

[@Xez1919]

This guy is spreading a lot of wrong information. If the viewers only researched his claimed facts. Sheep just move out of fear. Don't be become a sheep, neither a parrot.

[@AnaIvanovic4ever]

what wrong information is "this guy" spreading?

[@Zeta-qz6ci]

What claimed fact is wrong ? seriously...

[@giuliom3564]

@@lzsz7168 it's already demonstrated by facts and official information.

[@ChrisTian-lf2oh]

Obviously you have no idea what you are talking about. This guy is right - I live in Sweden and can confirm everything he says.