Confederation of Swedish Enterprise continually monitors what Swedes see as the most important political issues, to better understand how perspectives on business change over time. In the first phase of the finance crisis, a striking proportion of those polled spontaneously answered that the environment was important. Up until mid-2009, a greater number saw the environment as more important than jobs.
This presumably reflects the partially new direction of the environmental debate. From being an issue that mainly involved a small segment of society, the environment now interests most groups. The climate issue especially has been presented as a kind of general leadership issue rather than a technical one. This has allowed the environment issue to increase in its support while the economy has been deteriorating and unemployment rising.
But the latest poll indicates a break in the pattern. The percentage of those who see the environment as the most urgent issue has dropped from 18 to 10, the lowest rating since late 2008. Instead, worry about jobs is steadily rising. Today, 23 percent say that employment is the most important issue, double the figure from early 2009.
It remains to be seen whether the new trend holds or whether it is a temporary aberration. Worry about jobs is natural when so many, principally young people, are still unemployed. But indications are strong that Sweden’s approaching election campaign is going to be about jobs more than anything else.
