August Blog

Since the 1960s Sweden has been widely admired not only for its “third way” of dealing with the economy and social issues but also for its design and high quality innovative products. This is something that naturally comes and goes in waves.

There have been times when Sweden’s star has fallen and other times, like the present, when Sweden is attracting a great deal of attention for its thriving economy and general well-being.

"Sweden’s 5.5 percent growth rate last year was stronger than any other developed nation in Europe and beat the 2.8 percent expansion in the United States" wrote the Washington Post almost reluctantly about "Sweden, the rock star of the recovery."

This is just one of the myriad of accolades Sweden is getting from around the world.

There are, however, detractors and the one causing the biggest stir now is Tyler Brulé, who has for many years been one of the biggest fans of Sweden. The Financial Times columnist, editor-in-chief of Monocle and founder of the Wallpaper magazine has been an influential promoter of Swedish design and, through his magazines, made Swedish fashion, food, art and architecture hip around the world. Tyler Brûlé who has also had a summer house on his own island in the Stockholm archipelago for many years became an outspoken advocate of the Swedish way of life.

Now he has changed his tune.

“Swedish goods and services used to be a refreshing constant in my daily life but somehow they’ve vanished – no cars, no telecommunications, no media, no hotels, no airlines," he writes. "H&M and Ikea might continue their global assault (along with the odd crime author), waving a small blue and yellow flag, but increasingly Sweden Inc seems a little less potent”.

“Ten years ago it was a pleasure to board an aircraft belonging to Scandinavian Airlines. But I flew on SAS a couple of times this week and was more saddened than shocked by the experience. And I wondered if the SAS brand would be around this time next year".

I flew SAS this week myself and was surprised when I was asked to pay 20 kronor for a cup of tea. (In fact I apparently looked so chocked that the stewardess told me that it was fine if I did not pay anything this time, as I obviously did not know that they had had to start charging for everything except water on European routes).

Apart from this I really have no complaints either about SAS or Sweden.

Wherever I went during the last few weeks there was a general feeling of well-being. All the closure “Stängt för semester” signs on stores and even restaurants exude a sense of confidence and security.

There are naturally some negative aspects but I will leave them for another time.

Have a nice August

Anders