## Sweden's Welfare State: Can the Bumblebee Keep Flying?

_Books, May 1, 2003_

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [Sweden's Welfare State: Can the Bumblebee Keep Flying?](https://www.imf.org/en/publications/books/issues/2016/12/30/sweden-s-welfare-state-can-the-bumblebee-keep-flying-15894)

## Other formats

- [Markdown version](/en/publications/books/issues/2016/12/30/sweden-s-welfare-state-can-the-bumblebee-keep-flying-15894/index.md)
- [Structured JSON version](/en/publications/books/issues/2016/12/30/sweden-s-welfare-state-can-the-bumblebee-keep-flying-15894/index.json)
- [Bundle manifest](/en/publications/books/issues/2016/12/30/sweden-s-welfare-state-can-the-bumblebee-keep-flying-15894/bundle-manifest.json)

## Bibliographic details
- Authors: Subhash Madhav Thakur, Valerie Cerra, Balázs Horváth, Michael Keen
- Published: May 1, 2003
- Series: Books
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781589061583.071

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### Overview
- Sweden is portrayed as epitomizing a welfare-state approach with extensive state intervention aimed at ensuring a high quality of life.
- Contrasting views:
  - Advocates: Swedish welfare state builds on a strong social consensus favoring extensive state intervention.
  - Critics: The system is marked by excessive government intervention and attendant inefficiencies.
- Metaphor used by Prime Minister Göran Persson: "Think of a bumblebee. With its overly heavy body and little wings, supposedly it should not be able to fly--but it does." The book treats the Swedish welfare state as the bumblebee that has managed to fly.
- Purpose of the book:
  - Draws on many years of IMF surveillance and policy advice to explain how the Swedish model has succeeded.
  - Assesses the challenges the Swedish model faces in the new century.
  - Proposes a strategy for dealing with those challenges.
  - Draws lessons for other countries facing similar challenges from globalization and demographics.

### Key findings and analysis
- The book synthesizes IMF surveillance and policy advice to explain the resilience of the Swedish welfare model.
- Focus areas reflected in subject keywords:
  - Corporate income tax; Corporate taxes; Revenue administration; Taxes
  - Expenditure; General government expenditure
  - Income; earnings distribution; per capita income; transfer income
  - Labor; Labor markets; wage; wage dispersion; ICT sector
  - National accounts; user cost of capital; tax depreciation allowance
- Geographic and thematic scope in keywords:
  - Baltics; Europe; Northern Europe; Western Europe; Global; Sweden; report Sweden; BOOK; growth performance

### Challenges identified and strategic policy focus
- Challenges motivating the analysis:
  - Globalization
  - Demographics
- Strategic objectives articulated:
  - Explain how the Swedish welfare state has operated successfully.
  - Assess pressures and vulnerabilities in the Swedish model in the 21st century.
  - Propose policy strategy to address identified challenges.
  - Extract lessons applicable to other countries facing similar globalization and demographic pressures.

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/books/issues/2016/12/30/sweden-s-welfare-state-can-the-bumblebee-keep-flying-15894_