July 2019 • Page 2 of 5 • SwedeInternational

Tues. 23/7 – an SOS for the SEK

Although the Swedish Central Bank (Riksbanken) had a darn cheery economic prognosis for Sweden earlier this month, a report from Capital Economics (a pretty huge, international, economic research company) predicts that the krona may sink to a new low by the end of the year – 11 kronor to the Euro. DN.se reports (bit.ly/DNekonomi) that Capital Economics has Swedish household consumption down 1% in May compared to last year – the largest drop in a decade. This bodes ill for the economy as a whole.

So why is the krona so weak? Why doesn’t it buy so much anymore? Why does so much seem so much more expensive? It’s good for people bringing over money, or if you’re a tourist, but it’s not generally good when you have to pay a lot more for things than normal.

Some people think that the krona has simply been overvalued before and this is the new normal (see Handelsbank’s economists on Affärs Världen ). Or, that it’s not really that bad – if you compare it to even smaller currencies. But if you don’t think that way, then there are a bunch of different factors to consider. DN.se’s Carl Johan von Seth had a few ideas a while back ():

Low interest rates. You’ve probably noticed how nobody is getting any interest on the money in their bank account. It’s the same on a country scale. Other countries are simply not buying the krona because they won’t make any money on it, and if no one’s buying, it further weakens the krona. Snow, meet ball.
Trump. Let’s just go ahead and blame him for this too, right? But we can! The dollar is super strong, and every time the Fed even thinks about raising the interest rate to keep things on an even keel, Trump is right there tweeting some really dark shade. The tax reform he implemented is also keeping the dollar strong (and possibly the economy good but that’s another, complicated, blog post). Plus, the trade war he’s engaged in with China makes people (read: economies) nervous, and nervous economies don’t buy weak currencies, like the krona. Especially when it’s known how dependent Sweden is on international trade.
The European Central Bank. The Euro is pretty strong these days, (which also makes the krona look weak), but has an even lower inflation than Sweden. In that comparison, Sweden’s higher inflation is unfavorable.
Sweden’s Minister for Finance, Magdalena Andersson. Some argue that Andersson’s relatively restrictive budgeting and the resulting budget surplus is part of the reason. If she had spent a bit more, maybe the krona would be stronger. (Then again, the budget surplus is a good thing to have if/when the economy weakens. Always an argument.)
The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (“Finansinspektion”). The housing market is an acknowledged hot mess, and the Finance inspection’s new demand for paying off one’s mortgage and a higher down payment requirement has had both the desired effect (dampening the housing market) and an unwanted side effect (dampening the housing market). Less building can be good in some ways but also affects Swedish economic growth negatively. Exactly, contributing to a weak krona again.

Congratulations on making it all the way through this blog post. Now go out and spend some money to bring up our economy. Or save the money in your mattress for the worse days to come. No advice here, this is just a blog post.

Mon. 22/7 – Mello – now (soon) on Netflix

Netflix has bought rhe rights to show 2019’s Eurovision Song Contest – more popularly know as Melodifestival here in Sweden, and even more colloquially as ”Mello” – SvD reported this afternoon. True, this news item was pretty buried under more important news like Iran taking a British-flagged cargo boat hostage in the Strait of Hormuz, but anyone that has lived in Sweden during the almost interminable run-up and final show knows that this, for some, is huge. According to SVT (https://blogg.svt.se/melodifestivalen) about 4.5 million people in Sweden alone saw the final. That’s very nearly half the population here folks. Maybe this news shouldn’t have been so buried after all (just kidding).

Netflix has also bought the rights to air the 2020 show in the Netherlands (after it has aired here in Europe that is), and – wait for it – is even planning an American version.

Sun. 21/7 – electricity companies busted

The Swedish Consumer Agency (Konsumentverket) criticized a slew of Swedish electricity companies for hard to read, and even harder to understand, cost information, Dn.se reported today. The Agency took a look at the websites of 13 companies, and found every single one of them lacking: One example was not being clear that the distribution charge (nätpris) wasn’t included in the cost they were quoting on the website. Since the distribution cost is a huge part of any electricity bill, and is completely seperate from the cost of the electricity you actually use, this is a good thing to be aware of.

According to SvD (https://www.svd.se/se-hur-mycket-ditt-elpris-forandrats) the cost of electricity delivered to the average home has increased 24% between 2013-2018. In many areas, up north in particular, the cost has increased up to 60%. There are a few teeny weeny counties where the cost has decreased, but they’re as easy to see as stars in the night sky over Manhattan.

The electricity companies have until the 30th of August to respond, after which the Consumer Agency may take further measures.

Sat. 20/7 – when tweets fail just call

President Trump and Sweden’s Prime Minister Stefan Löfven had a 20 minute chat this afternoon during which Löfven explained to Trump that the Swedish courts were untouchable for both himself, US Presidents, and anyone else unconnected to the justice system. The chat, characterised as “friendly and respectful” by Löfven, and “a very good call” by Trump, didn’t change anything regarding the continued detention (now until July 25) of hip hop star ASAP Rocky.

Trump offered to cover the bail for Rocky, but bail is not the issue since it doesn’t figure in the Swedish justice system anyway: No one is supposed to be able to use money to buy themselves into an nicer situation.

20 July – how much did your party make?

Earnings reports are in for Sweden’s political parties. Hands up who knew this was a thing. SvD.se gave the following rundown:

The gold prize goes to the Social Democrats. They raked in 249 million SEK of which 55% (about 139 mil) came from public coffers. Main money-making source: lotteries (also donations from unions).

Silver to the Center Party, who made nearly as much, with 229 million SEK coming in (18%, about 41 mil, came from public coffers). Main money-making source: investments made with the money from a sale of their newspaper concern Randello.

Bronze goes to the Moderates, who made 176 million SEK – way more than last year, due to the sale of their previous offices in Old Town (Gamla Stan). The Moderates also got 109 mil from the state (us).

Finishing 4th are the Sweden Democrats with 96 million SEK. SD gets more money from its members than any other party by far. They also get 69% of their total income from the state, 66 mil.

In 5th place comes the Environment Party with a little under 64 million SEK. Sales have been a big part of their income but like all the other parties, they also get a huge chunk of change, 37 mil, from the state.

The Liberals come in at 6th place with an income of 57 million SEK. 55% of that, 31 mil, came from the state, while sales, and income from lower level party organizations, make up most of the rest.

78% of Vänsterpartiet’s income of 49 million SEK comes from the state. What’s left is what’s gotten via collection, donations and sales.

Dead last come the Christian Democrats, with an income of under 37 million SEK. All of 84% of it, nearly 31 mil, comes from public coffers too, while about 6 million is gotten via fees, sales and donations.

To some degree, party earnings match party standing seen over time. A huge difference is found in the Social Democrats’ lottery earnings. According to Wikipedia, only the Social Democrats, and recently the Sweden Democrats, have licenses to run big country-wide lotteries, and for the Social Democrats they are a huge part of their earnings (see “dream-trip lottery” and “motor lottery”). This has not gone unnoticed and uncriticized, particularly when they are the only ones who don’t have to follow a new law forbidding lottery ticket sales on credit. This allows the S party to sell lottery tickets to people who are already in debt.

None of this really makes sense, but it’s been going on for a long time and the Social Democrats have been in power for almost that long as well.

July 19 – Rocky remains behind bars

ASAP Rocky has to remain in custody, a Swedish court decided today. According to DN.se, the court considers him a flight risk. Meanwhile, Sweden’s top prosecutor and general secretary of the Swedish Bar Association, Anne Ramberg, came out to say that this would not have happened if Rocky had been Swedish. In another meanwhile, the people accusing Rocky of assault are now also being investigated. And back in the US, the Swedish ambassador to the United States, Karin Olofsdotter, has gone public on TMZ.com to say that coming to Sweden is really “perfectly safe” and that “people are more than welcome” to visit.

The wheels of justice grind slowly sometimes, but this needs to be cleared up. Sweden is regularly criticised by the United Nations for the long time someone can be held without being formally charged (we’re talking really, really long times). As great as it would be if this were the case that got Sweden to seriously look at this issue, it’s still not likely. Change on this issue would make the wheels of justice look zippy.

July 18 – drug deaths up

A record number of Swedes have died drug-related deaths, SvD reports. Fresh statistics for the year 2017 from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction show that the only country with a higher number of deaths per million people was Estonia. If its any comfort – which it isn’t – Estonia’s numbers (130 deaths per million) were way higher than Sweden’s (92 deaths per million).

The official Swedish policy towards drugs is one of zero-tolerance. In recent years, this policy has come under a lot of critique from people in the know who say that Sweden basically wages war on drug users instead of trying to treat them. Testing for drug use also uses up huge amounts of law enforcement’s time and resources, and there have been charges that the police spend more time tracking down drug use in the suburbs that have a large immigrant population than in their socioeconomic opposite numbers. There are many voices that call for more regulation in drug use, and less all-out criminalization.

Allowing more access to Naloxin, the anti-overdose miracle medicine, is, however, about the only new thing the government has considered in recent years. Legalising cannabis, that even Sweden’s soul mate Canada has recently done, is so far pretty much out of the question.

There is no question that something is definitely rotten in the state of Sweden , as drug-related deaths have doubled in the last ten years.

16 July – von der Leyen outlines her EU plan

Ursula von der Leyen, the leading candidate for the presidency of the EU commission job, outlined her plan for the EU during her reign.

Er, command.

No, her presidency…

” We want multilateralism, we want fair trade, we defend the rules-based order because we know it is better for all of us. We have to do it the European way. But if we are to go down the European path, we must first rediscover our unity. If we are united on the inside, nobody will divide us from the outside. ” ( http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-19-4230_en.htm)

von der Leyen also stated she wants to reduce CO2 emissions by at least 50% by 2030, and that this was something that the EU countries needed to do together. She will also be putting forward a “green deal for Europe” within her first 100 days.

Other key phrases were “Sustainable Europe Investment Bank,” “Climate Bank,” “Carbon Border Tax,” and “Just Transition Fund.” Also mentioned were “Stability and Growth Pact, fair taxes, minimum wages, Youth Guarantee, Child Guarantee, “full gender equality in my College of Commissioners” and and a wish to “add violence against women on the list of EU crimes defined in the Treaty.”

Really, you should read her speech.

The vote on her presidency is due to take place at 4pm Swedish time today. There are no other real candidates, but in order to have solid legitimacy she needs to win over more than a token amount of votes from the Social Democrats, who would rather have had Frans Timmermans. She might not be a complete shoo-in, but her not winning would indicate a serious revolt on the part of the EU Parliament, who wants to have the major say in who gets the job. When the EU commission instead decided to back their own candidate, von der Leyen, there were many aggrieved and angry faces.

Still, we can pretty much expect to say European Commission President von der Leyen soon.

16 July – in Sweden, even unemployment is gender equal

SvD reports today that the latest figures from the Swedish Public Employment Service (Arbetsförmedlingen) show that 337,000 people in Sweden (6.7%) are unemployed. The news is that there’s been an increase in unemployed women, and a decrease in unemployed men – making unemployment just now equal between the sexes.

15 July – high court rules on “negligent rape”

The Swedish Court of Appeals (hovrätt) sentenced a man to jail for eight months after he was found guilty of negligent rape (“oaktsamt våldtäkt”), DN.se reports. The court ruled that the man was aware that the woman was likely a victim of human trafficking and was therefore not a willing partner: After an encounter with the woman, the man reportedly wrote on his facebook page “Trafficking suspected. Not recommended.”

While the man pled guilty to buying sex and to degrading photography (“kränkande fotografering”) he appealed the rape charge. The Swedish court upheld the previous court’s judgement but reduced the sentence from one year to eight months. The reduced sentence was likely due to following the punishment precedent set by the Swedish Supreme Court in another negligent rape case only several months ago.

On the 1st of July, 2108, the law changed to make sex illegal unless it is mutually, expressly and/or obviously consensual. TT reports that to be convicted of rape alone, the perpetrator must have acted intentionally. If the perpetrator was “merely” grossly negligent in ascertaining the victim’s willingness they can be found guilty of “negligent rape”.