IFN in the Press

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

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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. »"

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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

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

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

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.

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.”

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."

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.

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.

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."

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. 

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".