The myth of socialist Sweden persists but in fact it has left many of the policies of the 70s and 80s behind and become one of the most market-oriented societies in the world, says Rainer Zitelmann

For decades, the production and sale of alcohol was heavily regulated by the state in Sweden. When it came to beer, for example, the state prescribed a maximum limit of around three per cent alcohol by volume – anyone who wanted to drink stronger beer had to buy it on prescription from a pharmacy and, even then, the beer’s strength was limited by the state. These regulations were only abolished when Sweden joined the EU in 1995. In 2010, a now well-known brewery, Omnipollo, was founded, and it has gone on to become famous for its imaginative beercan designs, among other things.

I was invited to Stockholm by Anders Ydstedt. He is an entrepreneur and investor and, together with his wife Susanne, owns or co-owns several companies in industries as diverse as online services, cleantech investments, and public restrooms in train stations. He is also a board member of Godsinlösen Nordic, a listed company on Nasdaq First North in Stockholm.

If Sweden was once a socialist country, that was several decades ago. But just as people find it difficult to shrug off an established image long after it no longer holds true, so too do nations. We are generally very slow to adjust our familiar image of a nation.

To be clear: Sweden is not a socialist country today. In the Heritage Foundation’s annual ranking of the world’s most economically free countries, Sweden is one of the ten most market-oriented economies. In 9th place in the 2024 Index of Economic Freedom, Sweden is well ahead of the UK (30th place).

Attitudes to the rich

My survey on the image of the market........

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