July Issue

Just back from a quick visit to Sweden, I am filled with many spontaneous observations as well as one small insight. First for my observations. The Stockholm summer streets are teeming with pretty girls and all of them are not blond. Beautiful girls in Sweden now come in all colours and ethnic backgrounds. For the first time in many years, I did not see any anti-immigrant graffiti. Yes I did see some overweight people but obesity is still not as commonplace in Sweden as it is in North America. Wherever you go you see signs of wealth and well-being. You see it in the form of solid investments in infrastructure. Whether it is new housing or highway tunnels, everything is done with quality. You never see tilted signs or broken fences like you do here. What you do see, however, is more garbage in the streets so Stockholm is slowly losing its reputation as a clean city. You also get a feeling of how well Swedes are doing when you visit their homes. Everybody seemed to be renovating, some for what seemed to be the second or the third time. And their kitchens and bathrooms are much snazzier than what we are getting when we order the more expensive "European" alternatives. What fascinated me most about all the renovations was that they were being carried out primarily by builders, plumbers, electricians and handymen from Poland. Everybody seemed to have an inside track to Poles who charge substantially less than Swedes, even those charging "under the table". The black and grey markets are booming according to a recent report from economists at the Riksbanken central bank. As much as 67% of cash transactions can no longer be accounted for and that means that these illegal or semi-legal sectors have increased their share of Sweden's Gross National Product from 3.8 to 6.5 percent. There have been small pockets of Poles working in Sweden during the last twenty years or so, but now they seem to have become the preferred builders everywhere. The Poles work part of the year in Sweden and then go back for lengthy vacations with their families in Poland. And ironically there they renovate their houses with the help of the even less expensive Rumanians, who have now also started making their way to Sweden. Sweden is not the only country where Polish handymen have made a name for themselves. In France dashing young Polish plumbers almost have a cult status and this has given a boost to French tourism in Poland. This is not quite how it is in Sweden. Here you hear people compare "their Poles" at dinners (like serfs were compared in another century?) Everybody has a Pole story, like the couple who moved into an apartment that had been renovated by a team of Poles, only to find out that the apartment had also served as housing for a big group of Poles whose parties had become famous throughout the building. Recently the Swedish labor movement managed to stop a construction company from employing Poles for a large housing project in Vaxholm. Public opinion was on the side of the Poles who would have done the same job for SEK 39.90 an hour compared to the union rate of SEK 137. Have a nice July Anders