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Sweden: No Panacea for Eastern Europeans
| Article
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19321 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
Date : |
6 / 1991 |
2,867 Words |
| Author
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Eric Brodin
Eric Brodin is director of the Foundation for International
Studies in Buies Creek, North Carolina. |
With the recent happenings in Central and Eastern Europe, a number of states formerly led by communist parties are searching for a new formula for governing. The elections that are being planned, or that already have taken place tell part of the story: Most states are rejecting communism, both as an ideology and as a basis for government. The result of the election in what was formerly East Germany surprised many--for it was as much of an about-face as possible. The reconciliation and reintegration of the two German states are happening at a much faster pace than anyone would have guessed, agreements for a common currency and steps leading to an economic integration having been announced on--of all days--Worker's Day, May 1.
That East Germans are adopting their governmental form from their brothers in the west is not surprising. They were aware, due to radio and television, that the system of the Federal Republic was superior to their own central command economy. The United States, too, has had many visitors from Eastern Europe. Lech Walesa and Vaclav Havel of Czechoslovakia have addressed the U.S. Congress and conferred with President George Bush. The Washington-based think tanks have been visited by one delegation after another, and the Heritage Foundation has announced an intern program that would bring young people to the United States to learn, the peculiar workings of our national government. The National Center for Constitutional Studies (of Washington, D.C., and Salt Lake City) has announced a new program called EuroFree and plans to send groups to Europe in response to requests from Eastern Europe.
Now with the borders open, groups and individuals are visiting the West and northern European countries in hope of finding that particular mix of private enterprise and social security that will transform Eastern Europe. A great many visitors have come to Scandinavia's three countries--Norway and Denmark, now with right-of-center governments, and Sweden, the holdover from a collectivist past that only now is ending. But when these delegations return to Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia they have a confusing story to tell: Government officials assured them that the Swedish standard of life is the result of a unique mix of private ownership and welfare statism. But they themselves have seen that the Swedish welfare state, after more than four and a half decades in power, has a declining industrial sector and is losing foreign customers to more efficient competitors, the newly industrialized countries (NIC). And Sweden's long-time labor peace is breaking down as well: Union leaders now decry the loss of buying power due to inflation, while employers and owners are finding that the only way they can maintain
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