Re: Swedes less well off than poorest Americans -study

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

>The study by a retail trade lobby,  published in the liberal Dagens  Nyheter
>newspaper 19 weeks before the next  general election, echoed the centre-
right
>opposition's criticism of the weak  state of Sweden's economy after  decades
>of almost uninterrupted Social  Democratic rule.

A retail trade lobby? Er, I wouldn't expect much from such an outfit. In
contrast the Canadian Council on Social Development, using a common
definition of poverty -- having less than half the income of the average
family -- has discovered that one in 10 Canadians are poor compared to one
in six Americans and just one in 16 Swedes.

>Using fixed prices and purchasing  power parity adjusted data, the  median
>household income in Sweden at the end  of the 1990s was the equivalent of
>$26,800 compared with a median of  $39,400 for U.S. households, HUI's  study
>showed.

What this leaves out is the cost of housing, health-care and a bunch of
other things.

>"Weak growth means that Sweden has  lost greatly in prosperity compared  with
>the United States," HUI's President  Fredrik Bergstrom and chief  economist
>Robert Gidehag said.


Uh-oh. Sounds like these guys want Sweden to get lean and mean. In other
words, going from the frying pan into the fire.

Louis Proyect
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