Worse unemployment insurance for the long-term unemployed, higher unemployment, eroded welfare resources and tax cuts that have greatly benefited high-income earners. A new report from Katalys examines what the institute describes as the Sweden Democrats' betrayal of the workers, unemployed and low-income earners who helped the party to power. The SD received 29 percent of the workers' votes in the 2022 election and 27 percent among LO members….
Category: Save in the barns
Relationships alone are not enough – happiness requires a holistic perspective
Relationships important but no miracles Good relationships are crucial for well-being. A long-term Harvard study with that message, the New York Times recently highlighted. The research supports it. People with warm, stable relationships live longer and happier on average. Isolation, on the contrary, can be as harmful as smoking. More time with family and friends actually increases…
Pyrrhic victory for Western financial markets that breaks the US world power order
The Iran deal shows something bigger than a war The so-called peace deal between the US and Iran is a largely completed peace agreement, even if Netanyahu challenges it a bit by continuing to bomb Lebanon. But Israel will probably have to give in to Trump and the US can no longer afford the political and economic price of…
Strikes, knowledge and demonstrations drive society
History shows that almost all major reforms have started with ordinary people rising up. Kjell Östberg's book People in Motion describes how the right to vote, the eight-hour day and welfare did not come from above but grew out of strikes, demonstrations and union struggles. Workers, women, students and soldiers in uniform took to the streets together and demanded dignity,…
Sufficient childbearing is a matter of security
Sweden's fertility rate has fallen to a historic low of 1,43 children per woman, well below the replacement level of 2,1. Karin Engdahl believes that political reforms are urgently needed to restore young people's faith in the future. She suggests reducing working hours, especially for parents of young children. Without more secure jobs, cheap, good and beautiful housing and investments in saving the climate. and stronger welfare…
Debt settlement too difficult to obtain
The fact that over-indebtedness is sky-high in Sweden is not just a personal tragedy for hundreds of thousands of people – it is a systemic failure that reveals something deeply immoral in our economic system. In the fall of 2025, collection requirements will decrease slightly, but that is because people are too poor to even borrow. Private debt mountain not necessary We live in a…
Lack of routines causes system errors
Dan Davies' ideas from the book The Unaccountability Machine see the whole of neoliberalism as a complex system with built-in errors. Jan Wiklund believes on the blog Gemensam in the article "All failures are due to bad routines" 2024/09/18 that crises and failures are not due to individual scapegoats but to a system error that is integrated into the structure of neoliberalism. Sure can…
Reduce taxes for low- and middle-income earners to zero
Sweden's tax system actually has a very regressive tax system, especially compared to other countries in Europe. A regressive system puts a greater tax burden on those with lower incomes. But does it really have to be that way? High monthly basic deductions In countries like France, where a friend lives, you have a basic tax deduction of 1.300 euros a month, which corresponds to…
The Sweden Democrats are not social democrats
The Sweden Democrats and Neoliberalism's Discontent The far-right Sweden Democrats (SD) have emerged as a decisive political force. The Dissatisfaction Party capitalizes on the dissatisfaction that many Swedes feel with neoliberalism. Neoliberalism brings cutbacks, layoffs, market solutions, deregulation and privatization. In recent decades, this has led to widening gaps between rich and poor. Many ordinary citizens have experienced long-term unemployment,…
Government: Create more low-wage workers
Tidölaget's strategy is to, after a short time, lower the unemployment fund by 5% every 100 days until it reaches a bottom of SEK 8030 before tax per month. This contrasts with the needs of the long-term unemployed. These are often functionally varied often functionally varied or long-term ill and cannot cope with the low-wage jobs the government advocates to solve...