Economy| The European debt crisis has reached Sweden. Many forecasters, including for the Swedish government, believe this downturn will be short. But nothing supports this scenario. On the contrary, reality has caught up to the European economies, so Swedish growth recovery won’t return to normal for several years. For 2012 The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise expect growth of only 0.2 percent.

Commentary| Swedish competitiveness is deteriorating, and without a swift change of course it will eventually start to hurt. This is the serious and dismal economic analysis for Sweden by Stefan Fölster, Chief Economist at the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise.

Commentary| Taxing financial transactions is promoted as a benefit for long-term investors, but this ignores a more basic consideration, it’s negative effect on Europe’s growth and competitiveness. This includes significantly increasing capital expenses with the likely loss of trading operations in the EU, in a situation where Europe really needs to focus on maintaining jobs and growth, writes taxexpert Krister Andersson.

Commentary| Sweden was recently ranked as the third most competitive country according to the World Economic Forum in its annual international competitiveness report. These are very good grades for Sweden as it maintains its high placement over recent years. But the same report highlighted a less appreciated assessment concerning the Swedish labour market, writes economist Malin Sahlén.