I Want My Nanny: Hey What's So Bad About Socialism?

Swedes at the crossroads
Election pits free-market theorists against defenders of the nanny state.
BY KARL RITTER
Associated Press
STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Times are good in Sweden, but voters might boot the ruling party from power anyway in elections this weekend. One reason: The longstanding opposition doesn't really plan to overhaul Sweden's fabled economic model.

The combination of massive taxes and generous welfare benefits has confounded free-market thinkers for years. How can a system that seems such a sure recipe for economic sclerosis create such prosperity?

For economists on the right, the affluence is illusory: Beneath touched-up economic statistics, they say, you'll find a failing state that encourages people to milk the system and will soon be in deep trouble as competition from China and India gathers pace.

To the left, Sweden is the closest you get to paradise on earth. There's little poverty, education is free and health care is universal. Six-week vacations and 16 months of paid parental leave allow workers to combine jobs and family life.

Both sides can cite plenty of studies to prove their point.

Read more @ St. Paul Pioneer Press.