Battleangel

“The most successful society the world has ever known.” Not my words but rather those of Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee. I wont argue with the conclusion though. Le Monde came to basically the same conclusion recently when comparing the Scandinavian model to that of the rest of Europe and the USA.

Guardian - The prime minister has been in power nine years and the people are tired of him. They say their not well-liked leader should have made way for someone else by now. A new conservative challenger to this long-standing government of the left is a young dynamic moderate, uniting the fractious forces of the right. So a social democratic government risks losing to that most lethal human instinct - boredom. The age-old “time for a change” impulse may replace a successful government with something deliberately ill-defined on the right, just for the sake of a fresh face.

Sounds familiar? This is Sweden facing elections next year with the right ahead in the polls - though the gap is narrowing. How can the government of Goran Persson be at risk when by most standards it is doing well? Growth rates are predicted to stay at around 3%, soaring above the EU. Interest rates are just 1.5%, exports boom while its giant companies - Volvo, Ikea, Tetra Pak, Eriksson - are so far resisting the pull to outsource to developing countries. Unemployment is felt to be high - officially 5.8% but higher, counting those on employment schemes - yet falling from over 8% when Persson took over.

Public services are second to none, with universal childcare staffed by graduates, schools turning out far more highly educated cadres than in the UK and a good health service (though people grumble here, too, about booking GP appointments). Stockholm gleams in the autumn sunshine with that pride in beautiful streets, public transport, fine buildings and open spaces that proclaim the value of citizenship from every paving stone. With a tax take of 51% of GDP, so they should. What’s more, Sweden runs a handsome cash surplus.