IFN in the news

Lars Calmfors, IFN, is interviewed by the Icelandic newspaper Kjarninn on a political controversy. Lars Calmfors is one to the editors of the Nordic Economic Policy Review. When his successor was to be appointed, the well-known Icelandic scholar Thorvaldur Gylfason was suggested. However, the Icelandic Ministry of Finance opposed this appointment. Thorvaldur Gylafson is known to be an outspoken critic of previous Icelandic policies, that according to him, contributed to creating the Financial Crisis.

Lars Calmfors is very critical of the actions of the Icelandic Ministry of Finance:

"Lars Calmfors, a Swedish economics professor who was the editor of the NEPR scholarly journal, objected to the attitude of the Icelandic Ministry of Finance to Thorvald Gylfason. He says political arguments should have no bearing on the position." ( Translation from Icelandic)

Read the article here ( in Icelandic)

Lars Calmfors, IFN, is interviewed by the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad about Sweden and the Swedish approach to the pandemic:

Lars Calmfors is critical to Swedish politicians and their way of dealing with the outbreak:

"Maybe it will finally force us to think about our actions in this crisis." "Politics sat in the back seat" Calmfors accuses Swedish politics of staying in the back seat during this crisis."

Read the article ( in Dutch)

Henrik Horn, IFN, writes about Carbon Border Adjustments in the Milken Review:

"Putting a price on carbon emissions in order to internalize the externality is the economists’ go-to prescription for addressing global climate change. So it’s ironic that another orthodox economics prescription for societal welfare — free trade — appears to stand in the way of implementing the textbook climate solution. But there just might be a way to thread the needle to allow market-based solutions to reach their full climate mitigation potential."

Read the article

Magnus Henrekson, IFN, is interviewed by Le Monde on the ongoing debate in Sweden regarding the economic aspects of the Corona Crisis.

"Directeur du Research Institute of Industrial Economics à Stockholm, l’économiste Magnus Henrekson fulmine : « Lors de la crise financière, au début des années 1990, nous avons perdu 600 000 emplois en trois ans. Nous pourrions en voir disparaître autant en trois mois. » Pour lui, le confinement généralisé est une aberration : « Si on ne revient pas rapidement à la normale, des milliers d’entreprises vont faire faillite, les gens vont perdre leur emploi définitivement et il ne restera plus grand­chose du secteur privé, ce qui va entraîner l’effondrement des recettes publiques. Il n’y aura plus d’argent pour financer les hôpitaux, ni pour aider les personnes qu’on veut protéger en se confinant. »"

"Director of the Research Institute of Industrial Economics in Stockholm, economist Magnus Henrekson fulminates:" During the financial crisis in the early 1990s, we lost 600,000 jobs in three years. We could see the same amount of jobs disappear in three months "For him, the general confinement is an aberration:" If we do not return quickly to normal, thousands of companies will go bankrupt, people will lose their jobs definitively and there will not be much left of the private sector, which will lead to the collapse of public revenues. There will be no more money to finance hospitals, nor to help the people we want to protect by confining ourselves. "

Read the article here

French website Challenges is writing about an article on inequality that originally appeared in The Economist. They are quoting Daniel Waldenström, IFN:

"Selon Daniel Waldenström ( Institut de recherche d'économie industrielle à Stockholm), il n'existe de données fiables sur la répartition de la richesse que dans trois pays en dehor des Etats-Unis: au Royaume-Uni, au Danemark et en France."

 ( According to Daniel Waldenström ( Research Institute of Industrial Economics, Stockholm) there are reliable data on the distribution of wealth only in three countries outside the United States: in the United Kingdom, in Denmark and in France.")

Read the article here

Johan Wennström, IFN, writes a piece in Quillette about Margaret Thatcher's views on European Integration.

Read more

Le Monde has interviewed IFN-researcher Per Skedinger about the nordic views on minimum wages for the EU.

"Pour l’économiste Per Skedinger, ce système « autorégulateur » présente l’avantage de la flexibilité : « Il permet de fixer différents types de revenus minimums, en fonction de l’âge, de l’expérience ou de la profession, ce qui produit des niveaux relativement élevés, comparé au reste de l’Union européenne. »"

Read more

IFN researcher Per Skedinger is interviewed by German Deutschlandfunk about the Swedish view on minimum wages for the EU:

"Ein Mindestlohn auf EU-ebene gilt in Schweden nicht als wünschenwert, weil der die Autonomie der Tarifparteien bei der Festlegung der Löhne und Gehälter gefährden würde und weil man die EU für nicht hinreichend kompetent hält, um über solche Fragen zu entscheiden."

"A minimum wage at EU level is not desirable in Sweden because it would endanger the autonomy of the parties and because the EU is not considered to be sufficiently competent to decide on such issues."

Read more and listen to the report here:

Henrik Horn, IFN, is interviewed on the topic of Carbon Dioxide Border Tariffs by Politico:

“A border tariff will most likely provoke a strong reaction internationally,” said Henrik Horn, professor of international economics at Stockholm University and a fellow at the Bruegel think tank. “Just remember the aviation directive in 2008 when the EU wanted to impose a levy on flights which would lead to a form of extraterritorial taxation. The international reaction was so strong that the EU eventually gave up.”

Read the article here

Read  the article in news24fr

Niklas Elert and Magnus Henrekson, IFN and Mark Sanders Utrecht University, are arguing for a reform strategy for an entrepreneurial Europe in a Comment published in Encompass Europe.

"The European project is threatened by a nationalist populism sweeping across the continent. At its roots lie a perceived lack of opportunity in Europe, which yields injustice and feelings of frustration and anger. To counter populism, the European Union needs to support those that challenge the status quo. This will also help to tackle the "innovation crisis" that is currently plaguing the EU. This crisis can be addressed by undertaking extensive reforms in several areas, with the aim of promoting innovative, economic growth that benefits everyone. "

Read the article here

Germany is about to abandon the idea of at fully market-based electricity market, due to the potential problem of large arbitrage volumes. This is a valid concern, but there might be a solution to this problem, argues IFN researcher Pär Holmberg in an Op Ed piece published in Encompass Euorpe.

Read the article here

IFN researchers Niclas Berggren and Therese Nilsson have been interviewed by Al-Ittihad Newspaper, based in United Arab Emirates.  Niclas Berggren and Therese Nilsson are doing research on tolerance and social values. They are referring to their papers "Does Economic Freedom Foster Tolerance" and "Globalization and the Transmission of Social Values: The Case of Tolerance". When asked how to promote tolerance in a society, they reply:

– /.../ We believe the most important thing to institute is the rule of law, i.e. a high-quality, effective, non-corrupt and impartial legal system. Then our findings suggest that a policy securing low and stable inflation and policies that increase economic and social openness to other countries can increase tolerance as well."

Read the article ( in Arabic)

Johan Wennström, IFN, reviews The Madness of Crowds:Gender, Race and Identity by Douglas Murray in Quillette.

Read the review here

Henrik Horn, IFN, has written about carbon border taxes, he is interviewed by Politico.eu.

Magnus Henrekson, IFN, is interviewed by Bloomberg about reforms needed to create more entrepreneurship in Europe.

Read the article here 

And here

Henrik Horn, IFN,argues in World Commerce Review  that here is no ineherent conflict between climate preservation and safeguarding the multilateral trading system. But it provides that four conditions are met. It also provides that a unilateral decision by the EU to introduce BCAs can only be the counterpart of ambitious unilateral measures by the European Union to meet the objective of being climate neutral by 2050.

If anyone currently has a rent-controlled apartment in New York, it might end up costing more than what the person ever imagined of, argues The Industry Reporter. "Assar Lindbeck, []IFN and Stockholm Uiniversity] as Swedish economist had once mentioned that in several events rent control becomes the mostly used method of ruining a city without bombing."

Lars Oxelheim, affiliated to IFN, argues in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation that "when a higher proportion of CEOs in a nation receive incentives, that nation’s GDP increases significantly in the following years, independent of the incentives monetary value".

Fredrik Heyman, Pehr-Johan Norbäck and Lars Persson, IFN, document in new study, presented at Vox, a 30-year decline in the share of young firms and their share of job creation in the US. In Sweden young firms have been more prominent in the business sector than in the US, and policies to encourage entrepreneurship are key to this.

Amy Swearer, The Heritage Foundation, argues in The Daily Signal that New York City's recently amended rent-stabilization laws "make the city’s affordable housing problem significantly worse, proving economist Assar Lindbeck’s [IFN] point that “next to bombing, rent control seems in many cases to be the most efficient technique so far known for destroying cities.”

PE firms have been shown to improve the operational efficiency of the companies they own, writes Bloomberg.com, referring to a paper by Alexander Ljungqvist [HHS och affilierad till IFN] et al. showing that this happens in Europe and the Middle East.

The Week argues that rent controls are making a comeback, even though "long dismissed by the economics mainstream as a premier example of inefficient and self-defeating policy". Assar Lindbeck, IFN and Stockholm University, is quoted saying that rent control is "the most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city — except for bombing."

Education News by the Cato Institute is writing about wealth-tax, quoting Swedish research: "Magnus Henrekson [IFN] and Gunnar Du Rietz studied the history of the Swedish wealth tax. They found that 'people could with impunity evade the tax by taking appropriate measures,' including taking on excessive debt to buy exempted assets".

Democrats have run America's most dangerous cities for decades. They have no answers, writes Joshua Lawson at The Federalist. He suggests to end rent control and quotes Assar Lincbeck, IFN and Stockholm University: “In many cases rent control appears to be the most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city—except for bombing.”

Shaun Bailey, is a member of the London Assembly and the Conservative candidate for Mayor of London, writes at Conservative Home about rent control. "There’s a reason economist and housing expert Assar Lindbeck (IFN) once called rent controls “the most effective technique presently known to destroy a city – except for bombing”. 

“People’s willingness to continue paying the very high taxes needed to finance the social welfare programs is not something that can be taken for granted,” says Mårten Blix, IFN, in an interview with New York Times. “We are now beginning to see the emergence of some serious cracks.”

New Yorkers has for generations complained about housing costs, explains the newsletter Infowars. "This happens in a city and state in which rent control laws have persisted for generations". Referring to Assar Lindbeck, IFN and Stockholm University: "'In many cases,' wrote Assar Lindbeck, 'rent control appears to be the most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city — except for bombing.'”

"Dads Want More Paternal Leave Than They’re Getting, According To New Research," writes the digital magazine Romper about research by Petra Persson, Standford University and IFN. "In fact, research shows that giving dads paternal leave can ultimately benefit both their partner's and child's health."

True Viral News argues that "While America continues on its punishing trajectory for women, Sweden is just doing its thing and crafting policies to achieve greater gender equality". TVN build the story on research by Petra Persson, Stanford University and IFN.

Tech companies lead the way in granting fathers time off to boost mother's, baby's health, states Palo Alto Online, referring to a study by Maya Rossin-Slater, Stanford University, and Petra Persson, Stanford, and IFN. This study shows that when fathers can time off from work during the first year of the baby, it can not only benefit the mother's health, but the newborn baby's as well.

The Continental Telegraph argues that being ‘socially’ close to criminal leaders strongly affects a person’s involvement in crime. The author refers to a study "The influence of leaders on criminal decisions" by Yves Zenou, Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, and affiliated to IFN, et al. 

Newsletter Commentary is commenting about socialism in the American public debate. "One can reasonably assume, as leading Swedish economist Assar Lindbeck [IFN] suggested in 2003, that societal norms in favor of work, or against living off handouts from others, originally emerged in societies where it was challenging to survive without working."

Babyology is writing about research by Petra Persson, affiliated to IFN, et al who "have just used the Swedish experience to research how dads can impact mums’ health – and the results were pretty staggering". "It turned out that encouraging dads to take days off as needed during the first year of a baby’s life made a huge difference to mums’ health."

Metro Parent writes about a study by Petra Persson, affiliated to IFN, et al showing that paid paternity leave improves moms' health postpartum: "A new Swedish survey found that a key component to keeping new mothers healthy is having their partner around, The New York Times reports. When the other parent has paid time off, the mother can receive extra support during that critical postpartum period."

The flexibility to have an extra person at home, even for a few days, offers significant postpartum benefits, new research shows. Petra Persson, Stanford University and affiliated to IFN, et al have studied effects of a 2012 Swedish law that allows fathers to take up to 30 days in the year after a birth, while the mother is still on leave, writes New York Times.

American Breitbart writes about a report by Lars Calmfors, IFN, et al stating that "compared to Finland, Norway, and Denmark, Sweden has had the most difficulty getting new migrants into the workforce". Calmfors argues that “it is an obstacle in Sweden that we have a high minimum wage". 

Mårten Blix, IFN, has talked to Healthcare Business International. He explained that “it would make sense for digital health companies to look at more densely populated areas. We have an issue with fewer doctors in the sparsely populated areas in the north and all of the benefits will be
diminished if it’s pushed into a regional context.”

Schools Improvement Net is writing about "highly able young people". The author is quoting research by Gabriel Heller Sahlgren, LSE and IFN: “[A]s governments in general tend to focus in particular on increasing equity and raising achievement among low-performing pupils, the needs of gifted children are often ignored in western countries.”

"We should remember that generous welfare states pose a moral hazard", Bullfax argues. "Gatekeeping functions have been introduced, mainly for sick-leave claims, to limit over-utilization and outright cheating.Economist Martin Ljunge [IFN] suggests that the reforms may need to be quite far-reaching to reverse the long-term effect that the welfare state has had."

LIberty Unyielding and further media argue that "loosening zoning and simplifying building codes would increase the supply of housing and make housing more affordable". The writer refers to Assar Lindbeck, IFN and Stockholm University: "Even left-leaning economists think rent control is stupid. For example, in 1972, the Swedish economist Assar Lindbeck warned, 'In many cases rent control appears to be the most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city—except for bombing.'”

Lars Engwall argues in University World News that well educated people of foreign origin are driving taxis can be explained by "insider-outsider mechanism formulated in the 1980s by the Swedish economist Assar Lindbeck [IFN] and his British colleague Dennis Snower".

Writing in Quillette about free movement within the EU, Johan Wennström, IFN, argues that "contrary to the purpose of free movement, most [of the beggars] have not come to work or study, but to beg in the most abject manners".  Wennström writes: "[...] an elite [in Westerns Europe] discourse condones destructive behavior and reinterprets a denigrating hand-to-mouth existence as an alternative lifestyle, ultimately discouraging governments from taking the necessary measures to maintain human dignity and alleviate the social costs of begging, such as imposing a blanket ban."

In a column published at Vox.org/Cepr's policy portal, Jens Josephson, Stockholm University and affiliated to IFN, and Joel Shapiro, Oxford University, discusses the role of credit rating agencies. They analyse the incidence of rating inflation when such an agency both designs and rates securities.

Freedom Bunker (Libertarian News) tackles the issue of affordable housing. In regards to rent control Freedom Bunker writes: "Economics professor Assar Lindbeck [IFN] [...] cautioned in 1972, 1In many cases rent control appears to be the most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city—except for bombing'.”

Over the last two decades, the amount of listed companies has declined sharply on both sides of the Atlantic, writes World Finances.  " In an influential paper, Swedish economists Alexander Ljungqvist, Joacim Tåg and Lars Persson claimed that delistings can reduce citizens’ exposure to corporate profits and undermine support for business-friendly and free trade policies”.

National Review and more media writes, about wealth-taxation, that that its "supporters do not seem concerned about the likely damage to economic growth". The wrtiter refers to a study of  the history of the Swedish wealth tax by Magnus Henrekson, IFN, and Gunnar Du Rietz. 

 It never seems to occur to liberals to try to understand what the discontented citizens of Europe who voted for Brexit or the AfD are actually saying, argues Johan Wennström, IFN, in an article in Quilette. Wennström suggests that "the cause of this intellectual rigidity may be that liberal politicians are incapable of entering a mindset in which liberal values do not reign supreme".

Michael Munger, Professor of Economics at Duke University, argues in Capitalism Magazine that cintrary to what many American believe "Sweden is one of the most robustly capitalist nations on earth". Munger refers to "as Andreas Bergh (IFN) points out in his 2016 book, Sweden and the Revival of the Capitalist Welfare State, it is inconceivable to think of the Sweden of the current decade as being anything other than a capitalist, and in fact libertarian, country".

CNS News states that Oregon’s legislature has passed the first statewide rent control law in the country, which Governor Kate Brown (D) signed into law. The news outlet quotes Assar Lindbeck, IFN, saying that “next to bombing, rent control seems in many cases to be the most efficient technique so far known for destroying cities.”

Before its News and more, notes that Senator Kamala Harris “enthusiastically endorses rent control. The publication writes that "economist Assar Lindbeck [IFN] said that 'next to bombing, rent control seems in many cases to be the most efficient technique so far known for destroying cities.'"

The nonprofit site Futurity publish a text about research by Petra Persson, Stanford University and IFN. "A question as simple as 'Are you taking your medicine?. could conceivably prolong your life, research shows." The research shows that people with access to informal health expertise, such as having a doctor or nurse in the family, are 10 percent more likely to live beyond age 80.

Becker's Hospital Review is writing about research by Petra Persson, Stanford University and IFN, et al: "Having a nurse or physician in your family can result in a longer life, among other benefits, according to a working paper [...]".

NPR/Radio WPSU and more observe that rent control is coming back in the state of Oregon: "The Swedish economist Assar Lindbeck [IFN] once called it "the most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city—except for bombing." But, with rent levels in cities like Portland, San Francisco, and New York making life increasingly unaffordable for many residents, lawmakers see rent control as a fix they can deliver immediately."

Medicalexpress is presenting new research by Petra Persson, Stanford University and IFN, et al.  They find that those with relatives in the health profession are 10 percent more likely to live beyond age 80. They are also significantly less likely to have chronic lifestyle-related conditions, such as heart attacks, heart failure and diabetes.

New research by Petra Persson, Stanford University and affiliated to IFN, is presented in Stanford News. The researchers tackle the issue of health inequality. They find that those with relatives in the health profession are 10 percent more likely to live beyond age 80.

The Daily Signal and more outlets write about the first statewide rent control law in the US. "Economists say rent controls are destructive. [...] The economist Assar Lindbeck [IFN] said that “next to bombing, rent control seems in many cases to be the most efficient technique so far known for destroying cities.”

MPs have been briefed on a new research paper that assesses the pros and cons of rent controls in England, notes Landlord News: "The paper also discusses rent controls in other countries, including intense opposition from the likes of Assar Lindbeck [IFN] , a professor in Stockholm: “In many cases, rent control appears to be the most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city – except for bombing.”

Property Industry Eye writes about a research paper that has been published to help brief MPs on the arguments for and against rent controls. Rent control in other countries is mentioned and Assar Lindbeck, IFN och Stockholm University is quoted having said that "in many cases rent control appears to be the most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city – except for bombing.”

American Star Tribune is writing that "Scandinavian capitalism is different from that in the United States".  The writer is quoting Assar Lindbeck, IFN and Stockholm University, who in 1997 described what happened in Sweden after WW II: "In Lindbeck's words, the Swedish model looked 'less idyllic' by the early 1990s."

Economist publishes a text explaining why rare first names may help explain political differences. Economist quote Mounir Karadja and Erik Prawitz [IFN] clarifying "that the option to emigrate emboldened workers to join unions, who backed leftist parties. But emigrants’ rare names imply another possible explanation: an exodus of individualists left behind people friendly to collectivism."

Seeking Alpha is writing about "debt, debt, and more debt ". The journal is quoting research by Andreas Bergh and Magnus Henrekson, IFN: In their "paper 'Government Size and Growth: A Survey and Interpretation of the Evidence', found that as government size increases, GDP growth declines".

Nordic Labour Journal argues that "big changes to the labor market could be just around the corner, depending on who ends up forming a government". The writer is quoting Lars Calmfors, IFN, in regards to the industry’s role in wage formation. Calmfors were saying that “If these sectors are to meet their labor needs, wage increases must probably be higher than what suits the industry”.

An article by Pehr-Johan Norbäck, Lars Persson and Roger Svensson is published at Vox.eu, the policy portal of CEPR. Theyv argue that to stimulate the entry and growth of small entrepreneurial firms you need to combine subsidy schemes with policies that improve the merger and acquisition market for small entrepreneurial firms.  

The New Zealand Mortgage Mag publish a text about the Residential Tenancies Act in which changes are proposed, for example, to end "the 90 day no cause termination". The landlord and lawyer writing argues: "The proposed measures would only succeed in the manner predicted by renowned Swedish economist Assar Lindbeck [IFN] in his 1972 quote: “Rent control: the most efficient technique to destroy a city - except for bombing”.

What makes a leader and a start-up successful? The Telegraph is referring to research by Gabriel Heller Sahlgren, LSE and affiliated to IFN, showing that leaders with qualifications in business, social science and law are best at driving growth. They are most likely to employ others, so taking crucial first steps toward becoming high-quality entrepreneurs.

National Review Online states that in California "a ballot initiative under consideration, Proposition 10, would open the way toward expanding government-imposed price controls on residential rentals". The magazine is mentioning Assar Lindbeck, IFN and Stockholm University, who "called rent control the most effective way to destroy a city short of bombing".

The web magazine 3 Quarks Daily is publishing a text about The Nobel Factor, by Avner Offer and Gabriel Söderberg: "This rather local agenda, pressed by the influential economist Assar Lindbeck [...] was, the authors argue, crucial to explaining the pattern of awards. The authors go so far as to contrast Economics with Social Democracy, in the process identifying the discipline as a whole with its most market‐oriented strand."

Yves Zenou, affiliated tyo IFN, et al argues at Voxeu.org (the policy portar of CEPR) that "being ‘socially’ close to criminal leaders strongly affects a person’s involvement in crime". Sudyingschools in the US, it shows that removing all criminal leaders from a school can, on average, reduce criminal activity by about 20% and the individual probability of becoming a criminal by 10%.

Magnus Henrekson and Johan Wennström, IFN, write in The Quillette about recently published research on the Swedish school system: "Lessons from Sweden indicate that countries with a tradition of social-constructivist practices in their education system, and which are considering implementing or expanding market-based school reforms, should proceed with caution. For example, the U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has stated that she wants to enact a model of school choice that is identical to the one Sweden has."

Candian MTL News asks a number of people what they think "are the most important steps to take to improve California’s shortage of affordable housing?" Lanhee Chen, Stanford University, is one of the respondents that refers to Assar Lindbeck, IFN, who has called rent control "'the best way to destroy a city, other than bombing.' He’s absolutely right. Voters should reject Proposition 10 this Fall."

Sam Dumitriu, in CapX , argues that a report by the Institute for Public Policy Research "focuses on the wrong causes and ignore the real problems" in regards to produtctivity ang growth. He is quoting Magnus Henrekson, IFN: "Economic growth is not primarily about firms growing by a similar percentage or productivity rising in existing jobs because of technological change and more capital per worker. Rather, it comes mainly from churning (firm and job turnover) and restructuring — mostly shifts in production from less to more successful firms”.

The Mail On Sunday writes about an article in NYT referring to research by Erik Lindqvist, Stockholm School of Economics and affiliated to IFN, Robert Ostling, Stockholm University, and David Cesarini, New York University and affiliated to IFN.  The web site points to the research due to falling  lottery ticket sales.

New York Times is writing about research by Erik Lindqvist, Stockholm School of Economics and affiliated to IFN, Robert Ostling, Stockholm University, and David Cesarini, New York University and affiliated to IFN: "New research suggests that more money really does lead to a more satisfying life. Surveys of thousands of Swedish lottery winners have provided persuasive evidence of this truth."

Freedom Bunker, a platform for Libertarian news, is writing about research by Niclas Berggren, IFN, and Christian Bjørnskov, Aarhus University and affiliated to IFN: "Our results indicate that while reforms of government size are not robustly related to satisfaction with democracy, reforms of the other three kinds are—and in a way that runs counter to the anti-liberalization claims."

American F3News writes about the genetic influence on educational attainment. The magazine is referring to David Cesarini, New York University and affiliated to IFN, who is a co-founder of the Social Science Genetic Association Consortium along with Daniel Benjamin and Philipp Koellinger. Their goal was to find a reliable measure of heritable influence on educational attainment so that other researchers could control for genetics in their experiments, the same way they’d control for socioeconomic status or zip code. 

The American Spectator​ writes that the proposal from the Democratic Party in California to combine rent controls and massive subsidaries for renters will have a negative impact on the housing stock. The authors quotes Assar Lindbeck's, IFN, conclusion about the results of rent control: "[...] it appears to be the most efficient technique prensently known to destroy a city — except from bombing". 

South African The Citizen writes that "SA is over-governed and mis-governed, with just 49 of the 263 municipalities receiving clean audits". The author refers to research by Andreas Bergh and Magnus Henrekson, IFN: "[...] in a study of the relationship between the size of government and economic growth, found that big government is not necessarily opposed to growth. It depends on how government spends its money".

 The welfare state is the theme in this article by The Economist. The magazine is refering to research by IFN faculry: "Spending on “social protection” (pensions, benefits and the like) in the OECD club of countries has increased from 5% in the 1960s to 15% in 1980 to 21% in 2016. In a paper published in 2011, two economists, Andreas Bergh and Magnus Henrekson, estimated that a ten-percentage-point increase in the size of the state in rich countries is associated with a fall in the annual rate of GDP growth of 0.5 to one percentage point."

Australian Mirage News writes about research by Yves Zenou, Monash Business School  and affiliated to IFN. "A worldwide expert on network economics [Zenou] established the ‘Key Player’ theory – networks developed from direct interactions between two people and the interconnected links between their friends – which he demonstrated could reduce crime in Sweden by up to 30%."

In an interview in Stanford Business Petra Persson, Stanford University and affiliated to IFN,  explains that the health insurance marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) could unravel because enrollees strategically drop in and out of coverage. "The end result could be a complete undermining of the market", says Petra Persson.

Stanford Medical Center Report highlights research showing a causal link between fetal stress exposure and mental health later in life. One of the researchers is Petra Persson, affiliated to IFN, and the data in the study are Swedish: “Our study offers complementary evidence linking early-life circumstance to adult mental health, but breaks new ground by focusing on stress, which may be more pertinent than malnutrition in modern developed countries such as the United States and Sweden, and by tracing health outcomes throughout the time period between the fetal shock and adulthood.”

Before its news quotes Assar Lindbeck, IFN and Stockholm University, explaining that “in many cases rent control appears to be the most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city – except for bombing.” "He’s right on target", the writer argues, "given that rent control destroys housing markets because it takes away the incentive to build new apartments, reduces the willingness of landlords to upgrade and maintain their properties, and encourages tenants to squat indefinitely in their below-market units".

Pay Scale writes that "a new study from Swedish researchers Olle Folke and Johanna Rickne [affiliated to IFN) "found correlations between women getting promoted to the top job in their fields and incidents of divorce". Pay Scale notes that "a top promotion can actually double a woman’s chance of divorce".

"A new publication by Petra Persson [affiliated to IFN] and Maya Rossin-Slater indicates that losing a loved one during pregnancy may actually impact the mental health of the child as he or she grows into adulthood," writes Disrupt Africa, an African startup portal. The text was published by Brinkwire, a hub for blogs, online communities etcetera.

Refering to a study by Johanna Rickne, affiliated to IFN, et al in Fortune states: "A new study by Swedish researchers found that women who begin their marriage either earning less than their husband or not working at all, are significantly more likely to get divorced if their career suddenly surges."

Women's "hard-won successes are taxed in ways that men's are not" writes New York Times. "While winning is the ultimate professional milestone for candidates, a source of elation and pride, for women it is often spoiled, according to the study, by Olle Folke and Johanna Rickne, affiliated to IFN." "In fact, the researchers find several forces that ensure men earn at least a little bit more than their wives."

The Hechinger Report examines how Sweden, New Zealand and France approach the idea of school choice. About Sweden, Jonas Vlachos, Stockholm University and affiliated to IFN, is interviwed saying that "the tension that you see is that if you’re very … laissez-faire about who can run a school, you will end up in a situation that you need more regulation”.

Forbes.com is writing about inflationary pressures in our economy. The writer refers to Lars Oxelheim, Lund University and affiliated to IFN, and a piece by him in FT.  Oxelheim argues that "historical precedence has shown how this supply/demand shift can lead to significantly higher interest rates over a short period of time". 

A Letter to the editor by Lars Oxelheim, Lund University and affiliated to IFN, is published in Financial Times. He argues that a return to inflation and a "normal" economy may result in seizure and death. "To avoid history repeating itself, the tapering should be on hold until we know the magnitude of expansionary fiscal policy by Mr Trump."

In an opinion piece by William Sander, professor at DePaul University, Crain's Chicago Business quotes Assar Lindbeck, IFN and Stockholm University, arguing that "except for bombing, rent control was the best way to destroy a city".

The e-paper LiveMint states that "Mumbai is a poster child for all the harmful ways in which rent control affects the liveability of a city". The writer quotes Assar Lindbec k, IFN, saying that next to bombing“rent control seems in many cases to be the most efficient technique so far known for destroying cities.

CEPR's policy portan Vox is publishing an article by David Seim, Stockhom Iniversisty and affiliated to IFN, et al examining whether the issue of adverse selection justifies a universal mandate for unemployment insurance. They show that workers who purchased more generous unemployment insurance were more than twice as likely to be unemployed in the following year.

Following the passing of the Ikea-founder Ingvar kamprad, Magnus Henrekson, IFN, is quoted by the news agency AFP saying: "Ikea has no leader,” industrial economics researcher Magnus Henrekson warned [...] suggesting the company could lose its compass without its guiding light following Kamprad’s death.

Yahoo! UK & Ireland is publishing a piece about a "study by the Research Institute of Industrial Economics in Sweden concluded that Conservative politicians are physically more appealing than their left-wing counterparts". The IFN-reserachers responsible for the study are Niclas Berggren and Henrik Jordahl.

Canberra News writes that Australia is "stuck with the old myth that Finland is an education utopia Australia should emulate".The article refers to a study by Gabriel Heller Sahlgren, affiliated to IFN, et al: "Policies and pedagogy in Finland in the years prior to the PISA 2000 were more traditional and involved annual testing and reporting. Finland's move to an even more progressive model of education preceded its downward slide in PISA performance".

The logistics magazine Delivered quotes Lars Persson, IFN, about intrapreneurship. "According to Persson, intrapreneurship is relatively common in Sweden, partly due to the strong trust culture there. “Employees within firms don’t worry about not being acknowledged for their ideas or that managers will claim them as their own, and this helps foster new ideas”.

In an article in The Mail on Sunday and more media outlets a paper by Niclas Berggren, IFN, et al is quoted: "'Politicians on the right look more beautiful in Europe, the United States and Australia. 'Our explanation is that beautiful people earn more, which makes them less inclined to support redistribution.'"

Yves Zenou at Monash University and affiliated to IFN, was part of the 2017 SMU conference on urban and regional economics, held in Singapore. The Asian Scientist Magazine wrote: A city’s inherent interconnectedness means that people, businesses, buildings and transport networks can have far-reaching, sometimes unexpected impacts on one another.

Bloomberg View writes about rent control: "Over the years, rent control has acquired a special bogeyman status among economists. Assar Lindbeck, a Swedish economist who chaired the Nobel prize committee for many years, once reportedly declared that rent control is 'the best way to destroy a city, other than bombing'.”

In an article in The Daily Caller a paper by Niclas Berggren, IFN et al, was summarized and quoted. Thev study shows that right-leaning politicians are more attractive.

Are you worried about robots making your job obsolete, is the question asked by WNPR in this radio interview. In this program Mårten Blix, IFN, is explaining how automation may affect employment in Sweden and around the world.