The Myth of Sweden

Is Sweden an example of how socialism can work?

Even more often than you’ll hear the phrase “Even Hayek said…”, proponents of a free market will be confronted with the phrase “But look at Sweden!”

Sweden is known for its redistribution and welfare programs, regulatory systems, and its public education system, and many progressives perceive the country as thriving.

Is Sweden’s economy as great as it seems? Where it is succeeding, is it thanks to interventionism, despite interventionism, or something else? Is its welfare program beneficial or are there looming side effects?

Join the Mises Circle as we cut through the economic fallacies and discover the true state of the Swedish economy and what we can learn from it.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, joining our discussion will be Per Bylund, who will also give a short overview of the Swedish welfare state. Per Bylund is an adjunct professor of entrepreneurship at the University of Missouri, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Ludwig von Mises Institute, a senior fellow at the Ludwig von Mises Intitutet i Sverige (Mises Sweden), and founder of


(Special thanks to Joakim Kämpe of Mises Sweden for pointing out these resources.)


When: Monday, February 11th at 7pm CST
Where: Waggener 308

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