This chapter introduces the section on Swedish economic policy and political economy. Sweden’s economic policies, labor market institutions, and welfare programs have long fascinated scholars at home and abroad. The introduction discusses the reasons for this fascination, puts the section’s substantive chapters in context, and explains why the topics of these chapters should be particularly interesting to foreign students and scholars who wish to learn more about the Swedish experience. Specifically, the chapters in this section address the iconic “Swedish model” as an ideological construct, how far Swedish economic policies have been exceptional among Western democracies, how Sweden fared in the aftermath of the financial crisis of the 1990s, and what has characterized Sweden’s model of industrial relations over the years.
