THE SWEDISH PIPPI LONGSTOCKING ECONOMY

At Davos, Bill Clinton, OECD:s secretary general an many others praised the Swedish economy. Gurria said that Sweden’s enviable situation is not a stroke of luck. The very severe crisis Sweden endured in the early 1990s triggered major reforms. Some of them have been painful but they helped put Sweden on a path of sustained and sustainable growth. And they served Sweden well to weather the recent global financial and economic crisis.Today, the Swedish economy looks as strong as Pippi Longstocking, the famous Swedish fictional character you know so well. It is important to keep up this strength, which stems from the ability to undertake ambitious reforms, even if they are socially or politically costly and if their positive effects are felt mostly in the medium- to long-term.

Angel Gurrías Speach