Sir, in your story of the 15th of June ''Real Swedish jobless rate 15%' you make reference to a report by the McKinsey Global Institute that analyses the structure of joblessness in Sweden. While I welcome any study or story that goes beyond the normal reduction of a complicated joblessness situation to a single number it is unfair to single out Sweden without pointing out that this approach would lead to a far higher joblessness measure in any country it was applied to. A quick estimate suggests that the US would have a "de-facto joblessness" rate of about 13%, France about 18% and Ireland about 11%. To say that the numbers "cast a pall" on Sweden's reputation is entirely unfair. Better to say that it shows how well Sweden is doing by maintaining normal joblessness rates and excellent measures in almost every other metric.
While I welcome any study or story that goes beyond the normal reduction of a complicated joblessness situation to a single number it is unfair to single out Sweden without pointing out that this approach would lead to a far higher joblessness measure in any country it was applied to. A quick estimate suggests that the US would have a "de-facto joblessness" rate of about 13%, France about 18% and Ireland about 11%.
To say that the numbers "cast a pall" on Sweden's reputation is entirely unfair. Better to say that it shows how well Sweden is doing by maintaining normal joblessness rates and excellent measures in almost every other metric.
(I was surprised by your number for France - where did you find such a higher numb for disabled in France?)
btw - feel free to sign as "Editor, ET" in case you had any scruples. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
That still leaves you the choice to put 16% overall rather than 15%. Are you trying to play to their prejudices? ;-) In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
Are you trying to play to their prejudices?
Inactivity because of illness or disability As a percentage of population in each age group, 2003
I had read some debunking and that the most invalids were in northern Italy, but nothing about the low rate country-wide.
Myth and reality? La répartie est dans l'escalier. Elle revient de suite.
To say that the numbers "cast a pall" on Sweden's reputation is entirely unfair. In fact the numbers show that Sweden is maintaining average joblessness rates together with good ratings on almost all other metrics used to measure the heath of an economy.
Better?
Sweden manages to keep its unemployment rate low and does relatively well on other joblessness rates that can be computed and on almost all other metrics used to measure the health of an economy.
Maybe you could add your "of course the reason newspapers don't do this themselves is that it takes a whole morning of looking at publicly abailable data from the OECD and the governments themselves". guaranteed to evoke a violent reaction from police is to challenge their right to "define the situation." --- David Graeber citing Marc Cooper
