Radio Free Market

by Joakim Fagerstrom, Mises Institute of Sweden

In a recent article in the American Spectator Samuel Gregg writes about Sweden and America. His main point and conclusion is that even if Sweden is not perfect it is moving towards a free market and that America is moving towards Socialism. He also points out several "free market reforms" in Sweden during the last decade.

I am sorry to say that Mr. Gregg is simply wrong. I am not surprised that Mr. Gregg has drawn this conclusion because the misconceptions about Sweden are well spread over the world and we meet it everywhere.

Recently I spoke at the Mises supporters summit in Vienna about the Swedish Mises Institute and common misconceptions about Sweden on exactly this theme. But Swedish Mises Institute’s and my conclusions are in some aspects very different from Mr. Greggs.

First of all I must give Mr. Gregg some credit that his analysis of the historical facts and background is correct. I would also like to give Mr. Gregg some more credit for describing Americas way towards Socialism, and if you continue on this path I am afraid that Sweden will stand there and welcome you to the “paradise” of Socialism.

Yes it is true that the income tax has been decreased somewhat but it is the a form of a deduction, and if you ask me it will only be temporarily. To receive a net salary of $3,448/month on your account $2,550/month already has been paid in taxes (In this income bracket you only pay tax on the municipal level, above $4,560/month you pay an additional 20% and over $6,466/month an additional 25% tax to the state.).

Oh wait there is more, if you choose to consume your hard earned money you pay another 25% sales tax on consumer goods. So of the originally $5,998 that the employer has to pay for you to receive a net salary of $3,448 only $2,758 remains after consumption with a sales tax of 25%. This is of course if you didn’t spend your money on some goods where there are special taxes like alcohol, tobacco etc (the gas tax is around 60%).

The total tax burden has decreased by 3% from 48,9% 2005 to 45,9% 2010. To call this a liberalization is a slap in the face of the people who are slaves under a socialistic regime. To watch them brag about how they reformed Sweden is a mockery of true freedom. We don’t want their candy, we want real freedom.

The next misconception is that Sweden accelerated privatizations of once-state owned businesses. It also permitted private providers to enter the healthcare market, thereby introducing competition into what had been one of the world’s most socialized medical systems. This would be great if it is true but it is simply not the truth at all. The so called Swedish privatizations mostly consist of hiring companies to perform socialized healthcare. So what we have instead is a single-payer and a voucher system. Predictably, the arising problems are blamed on the free market and capitalism. And the solution? The solution is always a call for more state.

The biggest misconception in Mr. Gregg’s article is this:

State education and electricity monopolies were ended by the introduction of private competition.

All education in Sweden is state education. Yes there are private companies but again they have to operate under heavy regulations and rules [and follow the state curriculum]. And again it is a single payer system where they care nothing about the real clients because the payer is again the state. In 2010 Sweden also forbid homeschooling, Hitler Germany also did this 1938. As far as I know Sweden is the only democratic country in the world that has forbidden homeschooling. The ultimate effect of this is that the social services take your children from you if you choose to homeschool. Please read more about it here, here and here. Ask Domenic and his parents how they felt when their child was taken from them by brute force when they tried to escape Sweden and the ban against homeschooling.

What Mr. Gregg also doesn’t mention or what he might not be aware of is the massive amounts of new laws that has been legislated related to surveillance and other laws affecting personal freedom. The state gets even more oppressive every year, it is important to see through the deception when they wave some candy in front of you to make you forget.

We can’t let Socialism get a safe-heaven not even in Sweden and certainly not under a new disguise were it is called liberalization. Oppression is oppression and Socialism is Socialism so let us start by calling things for what they really are. The new “right-wing” government is as socialist to the core as the old, ”left-wing”, one.

In a recent freedom index about economic freedom in the world Sweden was ranked as number 39 (America is back at 10th place and Hong Kong is still holding on to the first place). It is true that our ranking has improved since the seventies and the eighties but our ranking is actually worse than eight years ago. This means that we have gone in the opposite direction with our recent government. Of course you should always be cautious when reading data like this but you would think that these liberalizations would improve our ranking if they were so great. And by the way Mongolia, Montenegro, and Zambia are ahead of us in this index.

From my point of view you can take everything I own, I won’t like it but I will survive. But what is even worse is when you further restrict my freedom, tighten the grip of our children’s mind with socialism and state education and invade my personal integrity even more. So spare me the candy in the so called “reforms”, I want real freedom not your deception so you can travel around the world and brag about your “liberalizations”.

If you care about freedom, please stop spreading these lies and misconceptions. In Sweden we still have the same old enemy and that is Socialism. We need to crush socialism and statism, end the state parasite and cleanse it out of our society before it devours ourselves and our children.

RomansBookReport.com

Introduction by Roman Skaskiw

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Many of my literary friends describe themselves as fervent leftists. Some even believe all great art is (and must inevitably be) produced by people who are similar to them politically. This absurd idea has bothered me since my several-year-old discovery and devotion to libertarianism. I now see literature in a different light. My new website, romansbookreport.com, and corresponding youtube channel is my argument to my former self who accepted without critical thinking the bias of my professors and friends. I begin with Joseph Conrad’s satirical novel "The Secret Agent" which is overtly anti-Marxist and anti-Communism, exposing the hypocrisy and contradiction of those philosophies with all the subtlety and precision of Ludwig von Mises, who engaged these subjects directly.

I will critique literature which supports ideas of individual liberty, and literature which opposes such ideas. I will also review non-fiction books which have been critical to my devotion to liberty and property rights in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises, Murray Rothbard, and Hans-Hermann Hoppe.

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Michael McKay, Founder of RadioFreeMarket.com heartily recommends RomansBookReport.com

As a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan reflecting on my time in service, I’m not sure why the United States continues to fight the War on Terror.

The horrible terrorist acts on 9/11 were not because of religion as many continue to claim, but the fact that violent occupations lead to violent responses. In 1998 and 2002, Osama bin Laden declared that the U.S. policy of supporting corrupt regimes in the Middle East and killing scores of civilians in Iraq through sanctions was the reason he would attack America.

Americans would not tolerate foreigners creating pain and suffering on our people, so why should we expect others to tolerate American foreign policy that has caused so many problems abroad? Robert Pape, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago, showed that 95 percent of all suicide bombings are not motivated by religion or ethnicity, but to repel a foreign occupation.

American foreign intervention has historically led to numerous negative unintended consequences around the world. In 1953, the CIA overthrew a democratically elected government in Iran and installed a pro-U.S. dictator for the benefit of Western oil countries. By 1979, the people of Iran had enough and overthrew the shah, but another government was installed that repressed the people even more. Christopher Coyne, a professor of economics at George Mason University, found an overwhelming majority of countries in which the United States intervened in the past century haven’t even become as "free" as Iran is now.

Iran isn’t the only failure of note. The prime minister of "free" Iraq routinely arrests political opponents. Afghanistan, where drug lords (supported by the U.S. government) run the country, is more unsafe than ever, the government itself is incompetent and lacking legitimacy among the people, and the U.S.-backed government has been a major point of contention between longtime nuclear-weapon-armed rivals India and Pakistan. The drone-bombing campaign in Pakistan indiscriminately kills civilians. The U.S. government worked closely with the Muammar Qaddafi regime to rendition terror suspects in Libya among other types of aid, before working with the rebels (many of whom fought and killed Americans in Iraq).

These interventions have been far too costly in blood and treasure; 3,000 Americans died on 9/11, and another 5,500 have died "fighting for freedom" overseas. Thousands of Americans suffer from mental trauma or have become amputees because of these wars without end. More than 100,000 Iraqis and tens of thousands of Afghans have died. There is no way to know how much these wars will cost in the long run, but economist Joseph Stiglitz thinks it will be far beyond $3 trillion.

Ultimately, we have become less free because of the War on Terror. The Patriot Act has allowed the US government to spy on citizens. Americans sacrifice privacy at the airport, despite the Transportation Security Administration is mostly incapable of securing airports or detecting threats. The FBI created a massive network of agents provocateur to justify draconian antiterrorist laws. Veterans are murdered during no-knock SWAT raids absent any evidence of wrongdoing. Food cooperatives are being raided by government agents for the Very Serious Crime of selling raw milk.

The motivations for the War on Terror are nebulous at best. Many say this War on Terror is a war for oil and other natural resources. Others claim the War on Terror is simply to perpetuate the defense industry. Some contend it "spreads democracy" and keeps America safe. Whatever the purpose, the War on Terror has clearly been negative for millions here and abroad, and now is simply time to end it. The freedom Americans believe is being defended by troops overseas is being destroyed at home by their own government.

Drew Hjelm is a senior studying economics and management-information systems at the University of Iowa.