> muster popular enthusiasm. More direct intervention
> is required - active public industrial policy and
> greater worker control at the firm level - if
> oridinary people are to get interested. The stock
> market, on the other hand, is the home turf of
> financiers, and games played on their turf
> usually end up being played by their rules."
Doug hits the nail on the head. Quarterly OECD statistics show pretty conclusively that Sweden didn't fail, it was sabotaged. Rates of national investment in the 1990s averaged the following from 1990-1999 (unless otherwise noted):
Country Average ----------------------- South Korea 34.2% Japan 29.1% Czech Rep. 28.0% (1994-99) Turkey 27.7% Switzerland 25.7% Portugal 24.9% (through 1998) Austria 23.6% (1995-99) Australia 22.7% Germany 22.4% (1991-99) Spain 22.4% (1995-99) Netherlands 21.0% Belgium 20.8% France 19.7% Italy 19.2% Denmark 18.9% Finland 18.8% Canada 18.5% USA 18.4% UK 17.2% Sweden 15.6% (1993-1999)
Swedish capital screwed Sweden, by fleeing the country for foreign markets.
-- Dennis