Foreigners routinely misunderstand Sweden’s secret, a secret that, to some extent, they share with other Nordic countries, but which they embody to a unique degree, given that they are bigger than Denmark, less state-dominated than Norway and more Scandinavian than Finland. A odd exemplar of “democratic socialism” that has about twice as many billionaires per capita as the US, that provides parents with school vouchers that they can “spend” in public or private schools, and that has a vibrant culture of share ownership, with 22% of Swedes owning shares directly, rather than through intermediaries. A succession of neoliberal governments re-engineered the model from top to bottom. There are some flies in this ointment, of course: The economy has recently endured a bout of stagnation, unemployment is at an uncomfortably high 9.4% and Sweden has one of Europe’s highest rates of household debt. Polls suggest that a left-of-center coalition will replace the current right-of-cente...
