Let’s
follow their example. We can start by dumping as many Democrats as
possible in the 2014 elections . . .
Sweden
has become the first of the Western European nations to take a major step away
from socialism. According to the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA),
“Sweden spent years as a statist economy, with marginal tax rates above 90
percent. With nationalized healthcare and welfare programs, Sweden had a
budget deficit worth 13 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) in 1993 and
a government debt at 71 percent of its national output.” These deficit
and debt levels should sound familiar to anyone paying attention to what has
happened to America’s economy over the last several decades and particularly
during the first six years of the Obama administration.
In
the 1990s Swedes began to realize what socialism and statism were doing to the
quality of life in their country. As a result, they elected Sweden’s
first conservative government since the end of World War II. Knowing
precisely what needed to be done to pull their nation back from the abyss of
economic ruin, Sweden’s new conservative government quickly went to work
cutting taxes on businesses and individuals. Things began to change for
the better almost immediately. Consider the following improvements Sweden
has enjoyed since beginning the long, hard road back from socialism and statism
(data provided by the NCPA):
·
Between 1993 and 2010, Sweden’s GDP growth exceeded that of the
rest of Europe by one full percentage point. Further, by 2010 public debt
had dropped to 37 percent of GDP and taxes on businesses had been decreased to
22 percent (compare this with the 36 percent rate in the United States).
·
Sweden’s political leaders transformed the nation’s retirement
pension system from a defined-benefit system into a defined contribution
system, thereby saving it from inevitable insolvency.
·
The Swedish Fiscal Policy Council was established and empowered to
independently monitor and evaluate government fiscal policy. The
Council’s most current recommendation is that Sweden raise its retirement age
to protect the long-term solvency of the nation’s retirement system.
These
and other free-market initiatives have resulted in an upturn in
entrepreneurship in Sweden. For example, Skype (the VolP service) and
Spotify (the music streaming program) both got their starts in Sweden.
Saab, best known as an automaker, is also excelling in the aerospace and
aviation industries. In fact, according to the NCPA Saab has beaten out
Boeing for aviation contracts in the past several years. In a move that
should be watched closely by America’s airlines, automakers, and other
unionized industries, SAS—the Scandinavian airline—finally posted a profit
after six straight years of losses by negotiating with its union to cut pay and
retirement benefits. The rationale of SAS executives in asking for the
cuts and the rationale of union leaders in accepting them was simple: It
is better to get a little less than you want than to get nothing when the
airline goes bankrupt.
Sweden
has not yet weaned itself completely from socialism, but it has made excellent
progress. Socio-economic change is difficult in a democracy. It
typically happens in fits and starts, but as Sweden has shown, it can
happen. What Sweden began in the 1990s is what America will need to begin
in 2016. But, as it did in Sweden, this will require electing a
conservative government. Let us hope and pray that the American
electorate will show the good sense shown by its counterpart in Sweden.
Read the rest of this Patriot
Update article here: http://patriotupdate.com/articles/sweden-leads-way-dumping-socialism/#RfvHF46ZWYIyBATg.99
