On Paul Samuelson's Mythical Sweden

...A single person with an income of $10,000 would pay $4,600 in direct and indirect taxes and compulsory social fees in Sweden compared with $2,300 in the United States...

...And what of the other elements of _9 'drunkenness...

...Was it justice for Sweden to let German troop transports through Sweden on the way to Norway and Finland...

...9 "What is exciting about the Swedish experience is how they have taught the world the feasibility of combining moderation and justice," Samuelson tells us, but he does not specify what he means by "'moderation and justice...

...Premarital sexual relations are engaged in by 80 percent of the youth, which in turn has led to 6 The A l t e r n a t i v e December, 1971 an increase in the venereal disease rate (syphilis jumped from 75 cases per 100,000 in 1958 to 491 in 1965, gonorrhea has doubled from 15,000 cases in 1959 to 30,000 in 1968...

...From many personal experiences it has become evident that the drivers who sweep through a pedestrians' crosswalk section with apparent indifference to waiting pedestrians, are not even mildly chastised...

...What Sweden has taught the world is neither moderation nor justice, but rather how a small nation, while wearing the moral cloak of neutralism, can opportunistically manage to gain benefits from both the warring factions...

...It is implied that our "'narcotics" problem ~is Great American Series If we don't stop the Reds in South Viet Nam, tomorrow they will be in Hawaii, and the next week they will be in San Francisco...

...Rather, I remember the thoughtful statement made by a highly placed Swedish police official: "Those among our political leaders who thought that serious crimes and other antisocial excesses would be easy to control in a modern welfare society, have been bitterly disappointed...

...Demographic Yearbook and Statistical Abstracts of Sweden show Sweden'$ suicide rate as fourth highest in the world, with Austria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia possessing higher figures...

...In spite of abortions and contraceptives, the percentage of illegitimate births has risen, from 10 to 15 percent of total live births 1958-1967...

...The cost of law enforcement had doubled to a billion crowns, but "cleared" cases are only 50 percent of the total, and among thefts only 20 percent are fully investigated and brought to trial...

...If traffic regulations were as poorly enforced in California as they are in Sweden there would be mayhem without parallel...

...dollars), according to the Political Handbook of the World 1970, was $2,500 for Sweden and $3,670 for the United States...

...And it has increased from 17.3 (per 100,000 population) in 1958 to 21.6 in 1967...

...Samuelson appears to underrate Sweden's problems with alcohol, by talking about "'our drug problem...

...In 1967 the per capita GNP (in U.S...

...Again what is most poignant about such statistics is how often juveniles figure in them...

...Yet to be a good social scientist, you first have to be a good observer, and, with regard to Sweden, Samuelson evidently is not...

...In spite of cutring a year off the medical training program and having 10 percent of the medical staff foreign-born, the number of Swedish physicians is declining...

...Of the ten largest companies, only six are private...

...In a study of violent crimes in Sweden 1961-1968 juvenile crimes marked the steepest increases - - 17 percent for the 15-17-year-olds, 36 percent for the 18-20-year-olds and 57 percent for youth between 21 and 24...

...statistics tell us further that 7.3 percent, of Swedish housing has 1.5 person or more per room (as compared with four percent in the United States...

...Thus far, Sweden has had a high standard of living, but it is literally living on borrowed money...

...Private consumption as percentage of the GNP was 55 percent for Sweden and 61 percent for the United States...

...What are commonly accepted as criteria are .facts concerned with income, and, secondly, the more demonstrable aspects of a high standard of living such as owning homes, cars, telephones, etc...

...that the government has ordered "government representatives" to sit in on all private bank and main industrial concerns' meetings...

...The public sector's growth in relation to other forms of employment has been rapid and extensive...

...An interesting auxiliary point is that consumer prices in the decade 1958-1969 rose in Sweden by 42 percent against the United States' 22 percent ). TAXES...

...The Coronation of an Oxymoron Samuelson finds it remarkable that Sweden succeeds in "'the redistribution of wealth and governmental interventions in business" in spite of "'jealous protection of personal rights and liberties...

...In a study of eleven nations issued by Sweden's authoritative State Wine and Liquor Board, Sweden is listed as having an annual per capita consumption measured in liters of pure alcohol of 6.3 liters (with the U.S...

...Both the U.N...

...Sweden's apartments are the smallest per occupant of any nation for whom reliable statistics can be obtained (with the exception of Finland...

...This slow, gradual, but irrevocable growth in public ownership is fully in accord with stated Swedish socialist principles...

...According to statistics released by the Swedish Institute, the figures were" $3,041 for sweden and $4,037 for the United States...

...Addiction is rampant in Swedish prisons...

...Convictions for drunkenness increased by 5,000, 1960-1965...

...Since 1967 there has been a slowing up and the Swedish Taxpayers' Association at its annual meeting in April 1970 gave the Swedish growthrate for the previous year as only 4 percent...

...Such a large rate of abortions seems particularly high when one considers that contraceptives are freely available not only in drug stores, but in public toilets and even on the walls of houses in residential neighborhoods...

...And what about the modern conveniences which are such an integral part of a high standard of living...

...A married man with a wife, two children under sixteen, and an annual income of $12,000 pays about $5,108 in taxes (compared with $2,240 in America...

...had 250 cars, America 407...

...Or was it moderation for the Swedish government to indicate its willingness to declare war and' fight Germany only in March 1945, when the war's outcome was obvious...

...In these ways, and in a myriad of others, the impersonal power of the government arrogates rights over the life of person and business in Sweden, which no "jealous protection of personal rights and civil liberties" has been able to stop...

...This monopoly is financed from license fees which now amount to $44.00 per year (higher for color television...

...Through this purchase the state gets a center from which to expand," a government spokesman announced...

...The turn-over or excise taxes previously mentioned are imposed on all sales of goods and services, including foodstuffs...

...Nor does ."sexual enlightenment" seem to have solved other problems of sexual maladjustment...

...He describes Sweden as a country which "'had it not existed, the world would iiave to invent it...

...To emphasize this point let us look more closely at housing in Sweden...

...Sweden's rate of 21.6 per 100,000 is almost twice as high as the United States' 10.9...

...In addition to marijuana, there are other preparations such as LSD, _9 "pep pills," etc...

...If you have any money left and wish to give it away or bequeath it, there are additional and severe gift and inheritance taxes...

...One cannot even purchase aspirin outside these monopoly stores...

...that since April 1970 when the National Bank (R~ksbanken) almost stopped credits to private banks the number of bankruptcies have increased by 50 percent...

...Neither with regard to wages (and their concomitant taxes), nor with regard to modern conveniences does Sweden compare favorably with the United States - - contrary .to Samuelson's implication...

...Just a year previously on 1 January 1970, the 'socialization" of the doctors was announced when new fee structures and working conditions were imposed on all Sweden's hospital doctors...

...It has already become Sweden's sixth largest company...

...Few demographers will accept statistics which show significantly lower suicide rates in...the U.S...

...Nils-Erzc Brodm is...

...Let us take a look at some statistics to get to some facts which Samueison did not have time to deal with...

...The top one is the co-operative movement, and other government enterprises in the top ten include the Railroad system and the Liquor and Wine Board...

...The GNP yearly growthrates from 1958 to 1967 were, according to Swedish Institute figures, 5.1 percent for Sweden, and 5.4 percent for the United States...

...Samuelson also neglects to tell us of the new wave of socialization which has swept Sweden's The A l t e r n a t i v e December, 1971 7 medical profession...

...For example, arrests for drunkenness among 15-17-year-olds increased by 230 percent from 1928-1954, and by 143 percent between 1954-1959, for 18-20-year-olds 105 percent for the earlier period, and by 87 percent for 1954-1959...

...Surely he could not be referring to the following very evident "'qualities" in Swedish life...

...Remembering that all strong beer, wine and alcohol must be sold in government shops, the value rose from 1.6 to 3.2 billion crowns (a crown is approximately $.20) from 1960 to 1968, and was 3.71 in 1969...

...drunken-driving charges increased from 13,329 in 1961 to more than 18,000 cases in 1967...

...Measured in terms of 1,000 population in 1968, Sweden had 498 telephones, America 518...

...The government has taken over factories, shipyards( industries, banks and stores...

...Alcoholic institutionalization for chronic alcoholism (a very rare move in Sweden) increased from 1,964 in 1954 to more than 3,000 in 1967, despite a considerable "'liberalization" of the laws governing such measures...

...During the first six months of 1970 (in comparison with the similar period in 1969) there was a 3.6 percent increase in total alcoholic consumption, with 10.4 percent for wine, 2.6 percent for strong wine {dessert), 3.4 for strong beer and 2.6 for medium beer (only the consumption of weak" beer decreased...

...In 1969-1970 there was a 20 percent increase in thefts, 16 percent in robberies, 62 percent in "'check passing," and violent crimes increased by 40 percent...

...Comparative tax figures released by OECD in 1967 give the figures of 40.9 percent for Sweden and 28.3 for the United States...

...On 1 January 1971, all the nation's 600 apothecaries(drug stores) were taken over by the government...

...And what is so moderate about "inviting" and generously subsidizing more than 500 American "deserters...

...By 1960 47 per cent of all Swedish housing units still lacked bathrooms or showers (affecting approximately three million persons in a population in 1960 of 7.5 million...

...Between 19581967 suicides among 15-25 year-olds increased from 4.7 to 12.0 per 100,000...

...Rape increased by 65.2 percent between 1963 and 1967 and divorce rose from 26 per 100,000 in 1925 to 220 per 100,000 in 1964...

...The result is evident, and it is not surprising that the death rate among narcotics users (4,500 between 1956-1969) is fifteen to twenty times higher than among nonusers...

...Whether the demographers of Samuelson's inner circle accept the conventional statistics on suicide, they are, nevertheless, the only ones we have to form the basis for a comparison...

...Of these top ten companies, the private sector has a turnover of 17.8 billion kronor, and the state and co-operative sector 15.1 billion kronor...

...With the disappearance of private hospitals and nursing homes (through licensing practices and tax regulations) with overcrowded hospitals, overworked staff and overly long waiting periods for needed treatment, any careful observation would reveal that "'the level of the profession is (not) maintained...

...Was it just, for example, at the end of World War II, to turn over Baltic refugees and German soldiers to the Russian Communists when they had asked for asylum...

...that Stockholm's court system was recently 'Teorganized" to admit five government appointees, etc...

...And what about the other indicators of a nation's standard of living...

...HOUSING...

...Add to this: that 28-30 percent of all employed Swedes work for the central or local government (or its enterprises...

...The drivers certainly do not, and in Sweden, pedestrians' rights are minimal indeed...

...Has Sweden's record of drunkenness been exaggerated...

...The facts brought forth in this article, I believe to a great deal, contradict this favorite myth of Samuelson...

...II That Hackneyed Quality "'It is the quality of life, and not simply its economfc affluence, that one finds appealing in Scandinavia," Samuelson tells us, but he does not define what he means by this "'quality of life...

...While enjoying Europe's highest wages, the Swedes have suffered the world's highest tax rate in the form of compulsory social fees and with a 17.65 percent turn-over tax...

...Another indicator of the sharp rise in alcoholic consumption can be seen in the value of the alcohol sold...

...Sweden has a higher percentage of its population living in rented (rather than owned) housing units than any other nation in the world, with the exception of Switzerland...

...Its postal system which employs 37,500 also operates 4,300 post office banks...

...And what about Sweden's -'sexual immorality" which Samuelson mentions and then appears to dismiss...

...There is an-increasing lack of physicians...

...Drug offenses rose from 300 in 1965 to 2,333 in 1969, the number of those arrested rose from 189 in 1965 to 1,546 in 1968 and the number of persons jailed on narcotics charges rose from a mere 63 in 1965 to 600 in 1968...

...Samuelson concludes his curious column by defining Sweden as a nation where its government plays a major role yet remains handmaiden of the people...

...Such crises in housing are particularly difficult to understand when one realizes that Sweden's housing and industry suffered no war damage, that it has ample raw material and a highly skilled labor force - - together with the world's lowest birthrate - - 0.8 percent per year from 1963-1968 (as compared with 1.2 percent per year in America...

...The "brain-drain" of physicians to Canada and the United States has become a grave problem...

...Let us see how, in fact, the United States and Sweden compare in these regards...

...From the point of view of a classical liberal, the success of "redistribution" and "governmental interventionism" is an evidence that there has not been a ~sufficient "protection of personal rights and liberties...

...He also implies that part of Sweden's admittedly high suicide statistics stem from the Swedish people's longevity...

...It may in fact be, but by this it should not be presumed that Sweden has escaped narcotics...

...We can only hope Samuelson never becomes ill in Sweden...

...In a comparative study of 24 European nations, Sweden leads with a per capita consumption of 5.6 liter alcohol (while the U.S...

...Although the former statement is essentially correct, the second part - - unfortunately - - is not...

...listed as 4.5 liters...

...The state even owns 20 percent of Sweden's restaurant trade...

...does) not...exceed that of the average resident of Stockholm...

...Sweden had 288 television sets and in America there were 377...

...One can find more Swedish physicians in the San Francisco area than in some areas of Sweden's rural north...

...The rate of "legal" abortions has increased from 9,700 cases in 1967 to 14,000 cases in 1969 - - 97 percent of the requests for abortions are now granted...

...On 1 January 1971, most of these state-owned enterprises were organized into one company, employing more than 28,700 employees and having a turnover of 2,500 million kronor...

...In Sweden in 1970, 1,300 died from auto accidents (up from 1,077 in 1967) every fourth one a pedestrian (up by 20.8 percent since 1969...

...This can be demonstrated in a variety of ways: by the punitive taxation policies, by the control of crediting and banks, by the control (shared with the Co-operatives) of the housing markets, by the monopoly of liquor, wine, tobacco production and sales, by near governmental monopoly of transportation and electric power, by total monopoly of radio and television and by the manifold and varied extension of governmental power over increasingly" larger aspects of the Swedish peot31e's life and work...

...Of these only 1,200 were in private practice of which at least one fourth were over seventy years old...

...And the Swedish government's attitude toward the remaining private physicians is clear: "they must in time become a part of the system...

...Although as many as 20 percent of the Swedes list themselves as "total abstainers' (as contrasted with 32 percent for the United States) there are at least 5,000 deaths each year directly traceable to the effects of alcoholism...

...Rich and poor alike have access to modern medicine, while the level of the profession is maintained," Samuelson informs us...

...Crime in Sweden increased from 1/4 million cases in 1960, to 1.~ million in 1970...

...President Lyndon B. Johnson worse than Sweden's alcohol problem...

...The result was the lowering of the salaries of 1,500 physicians, depriving the head physicians of the right to treat private patients (private physicians were long ago denied such rights...

...Even as late as 1968, two million Swedes lived in housing units which did not have flush toilets...

...For example, if you want to give your wife or child $10,000, the "government's share" of it is 15 percent...

...There have been many theories behind Sweden's high alcohol consumption (the "'short winter days" do not seem an adequate explanation) and unfortunately, Samuelson does not expand further on his implied view of climatic motivations behind the sad - - and undisputed -- reliance by Sweden on alcohol to obtain its own 'quality of life...

...at the same time had 4.7 per capita...

...border on catastrophe...

...a graduate student in Geneva, Switzerland...

...If you wish to give the same amount to your mother or brother the government takes 40 percent as "'its share...

...Sweden has both of these problems taunting its "quality of life...

...When a government has to call for a price stop, without a corresponding stop on wages, when you have to obtain the Central Bank's permission even to send 100 kronor out of the country, when there is a drain both of people (700 Swedish scientists and doctors emigrated to American from 1962-1967), when arbitrary government decisions, increasing regulations and sharper compulsion characterizes the relationship between the Swedish government and its people and its business sector, then this government can in no way be characterized as "'handmaiden of the people...

...Sweden does not have an alcoholic problem in lieu of "'our drug problem...

...It is a tragedy -- most of all for the people who have to live ;here -- that it corresponds so poorly to Sweden's grimmer reality...

...Seventy-five percent of all crimes in Sweden are committed by children and youth between the ages of ten and twenty-five...

...I find the above statistics hard to reconcile with any high "quality of life" in Sweden today...

...Today the lack of proper medical services because of overuse (a visit to a doctor "costs" only $1.40, another $15.00 comes indirectly from tax funds, etc...

...In Sweden, it should be noted, the government has a monopoly on the nation's three radio stations and two television channels, the latter having only an average of ten viewing hours per day for both channels combined...

...A) "'Standard of living there...has parity...with...this country," and (B) level of living in Greater Boston...

...Sweden has one of the world's fastest rising rates of juvenile drug abuse...

...In 1967 there were in Sweden only 8,500 physicians (one per 940 citizens as compared with one per 690 in America...

...The Swedish government also began its gradual "'nationalization" of Sweden's pharmaceutical companies by the purchase of two companies...

...Pornography abounds...

...The current average tax rate in Sweden is 40.6 percent {against 29.9 in the United States...

...There are an estimated 10,000 serious addicts in Sweden, half of whom reside in Stockholm...

...After two decades of "'enlightened" sex education in the schools, what are the results...

...Inasmuch as Samuelson is generally recognized as an authority - - on economics to be sure, but reputation as "an authority" has a tendency of spilling over into other areas - - one would expect Samuelson to be a good scientist...

...Samuelson's mythical Sweden is eminently desirable...

...there were 372 radios in Sweden, in America 1,218...

...It has become increasingly clear over the past ten years that the welfare state we live in, is anything but an ideal society...

...Whether for Greater: Boston or Greater Baltimore, to which Samuelson makes reference, these statistics do not reveal any _9 pamty," nor do they give evidence that Sweden 'exceeds" the current American standard of living...

...Even more tragic than these statistics is the fact that young Swedes figure so prominently in them...

...The implication is that the United States has the world's highest rate of drunkenness, or, in any case, a rate higher than that of Sweden...

...Let us, in a point by point analysis, take up nine points which Paul Samuelson makes in h i s Newsweek article...

...This rise cannot be explained on the basis of longevity and "'life fatigue," for the tragic fact is that the percentage of young people committing suicide is getting higher every year...

...If Swedish people do, as Samuelson says, "'obey traffic lights," it is certainly an innovation...

...Had Samuelson spoken to more people outside of the narrow, and government-allied swedish Academy which gave him his munificent price, he might have learned that...

...than in Scandinavia," Samueison "authoritatively" assures us...

...It is not clear what he means by drunkenness (does it mean per capita alcohol consumption, arrests for drunkenness, institutionalization of alcoholics or what...

...Per capita consumption was for Sweden in 1967 $1,666 and for the United States $2,482...

...Standards of levels of living are subject to certain definable comparisons...

...The purchase is an important part of our policy vis-a-vis the pharmaceutical interest...

...After a period of weak law enforcement, the police are now getting tougher - - confiscation, for example, rose from 300 cases in 1965 to 1,721 by December 1968...

...Invented it he has for all of us to see, because the description he has lavished on a country which lavished its money on him, bears little resemblance to the actual Sweden...

...9 "Not too long ago the United States wrested the title for drunkenness away from France," Samuelson tells us...

...Suitably grateful for the generous _9 'Nobel Prize" in Economics which he collected in Stockholm this winter, Paul Samuelson said --thank you" to Sweden in his column in Newsweek on 18 January 1971...

...that because of government's pressures on the credit market, saving in private banks decreased by one third, 1960-1969...