Current Events > Key contents of the Swedish budget for 2021.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Each Autumn the sitting Government presents its annual national budget and soon after Riksdagen votes on it.

Today the budget for 2021 was revealed. It is an unsually large budget because of the pandemic. The goal is to keep the healthcare sector strong and strengthen elderly care while mitigating the financial effects which sweep the globe.

Here are some key elements:

105 billion SEK in investments. 75 in increased costs and 30 in tax cuts.
Swedens national debt is currently 35% and this will increase it to 42% but the Government has saved money previous years so the debt will decrease again starting 2021.

Tens of billions more to healthcare, elderly care and schools.

Tax cuts for middle and lower class workers to stimulate the economy.

Business tax cuts to save small businesses and stimulate rehiring and prevent layoffs. The employment tax for people under 24 is lowered.

The temporarily more generous unemployment pay will continue for two more years so people who have lost their jobs because of the pandemic wont fall into poverty. Continued support from the State regarding furloughing (?) (when you get almost full pay but only work partially).

The Green tax shift continues with stuff like a new penalty tax for polluting transports.

Raised alcohol and tobacco tax. The money will go to the Armed Forces.

---

how does sweden treat gerrymandering

---

Lol man that's awesome. In the US, the national government basically doesn't touch those taxes because that's something states and cities have purview over. I'd love to fund the military from sin taxes

---

Hey a country that knows how to make a budget

---

Balrog0 posted...

Lol man that's awesome. In the US, the national government basically doesn't touch those taxes because that's something states and cities have purview over. I'd love to fund the military from sin taxes

I mean we have medicare that's managed by the federal government and they did pass tax cuts a few years ago across the board (though the tax cuts for regular ass people has a time limit on it and the corporate tax cuts don't).

---

I don't like this budget very much

---

Must be nice to live in a country where the government takes care of its people

---

The Trent posted...

how does sweden treat gerrymandering

It is pretty much a non-issue here.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_apportionment_of_MP_seats_in_the_Riksdag

Balrog0 posted...

Lol man that's awesome. In the US, the national government basically doesn't touch those taxes because that's something states and cities have purview over. I'd love to fund the military from sin taxes

Ah, I see! So I take it alcohol tax can vary greatly from State to State?

thronedfire2 posted...

Hey a country that knows how to make a budget

scar the 1 posted...

I don't like this budget very much

The strength of this budget is that it contains several very necessary counter measures for these extreme times with the pandemic.

Also, all opposition parties dislike different parts of the budget but they do at the same time say they support much of it. So it is a national unity budget of sorts.

Personally I would not have been sad if the richest has been taxed more though.

For you who are not Swedish:

The Socialdemocrats and the Green Party govern and they have a Budget Partnership with the Liberals and the Neoliberals. So two center-left parties and two center-right parties.

The opposition parties are the Conservatives, the Nationalists, the Far-Left and the social-conservative Christian Democrats.

---

BalanceLost posted...

Also, all opposition parties dislike different parts of the budget but they do at the same time say they support much of it. So it is a national unity budget of sorts.

In typical sosse fashion I might add :) they truly are the vnda kappan efter vinden party. I also fully understand that they're hamstrung by L and C, I just don't like it still. What's especially rich is Andersson going out in press and saying things like "so I can actually say as a socialdemokrat that I'm proud of this budget". When everyone knows that it's a shit compromise and C and L are laughing all the way to the bank, you don't have to sell it like it's a social democrat achievement for the ages.

---

scar the 1 posted...

In typical sosse fashion I might add :) they truly are the vnda kappan efter vinden party. I also fully understand that they're hamstrung by L and C, I just don't like it still. What's especially rich is Andersson going out in press and saying things like "so I can actually say as a socialdemokrat that I'm proud of this budget". When everyone knows that it's a shit compromise and C and L are laughing all the way to the bank, you don't have to sell it like it's a social democrat achievement for the ages.

You are probably even more Left-wing than me but I agree that this isnt my ideal budget either. Im however not as disappointed as you. I guess partially because Im more Center-Left. I also think about how it could be much worse.

Sossarna are the largest party by far in Riksdagen but they only got 100 seats and are thus a whopping 75 seats short of having their own majority. They need to compromise with other parties just like M (the Conservatives) did when they governed 2006-2014. L and C managed to have high influence when they supported M and it is the same now when they support S. Their relatively low number of seats got higher power than they should due to the situation in Riksdagen. I mean, back in 2010 S and M were equally big. Now M have dropped like a stone but instead we got a strong SD (the Nationalists).

---

Morning budget bump

---

The biggest issue for me right now is private schools. Not really sure if that's really reflected in the budget, do you know? But essentially, private investors are seriously messing up our schools, siphoning money to the detriment of public schools and it's getting worse. You've probably seen the headlines where it's now impossible to ask the govt which private schools were have in Sweden. And a bunch of former higher-ups in Skolverket went straight to Academedia. Things are super bad and S aren't gonna do anything.

---

scar the 1 posted...

You've probably seen the headlines where it's now impossible to ask the govt which private schools were have in Sweden

Yeah, that rule sounds stupid and i don't get why they made it

---

ROBANN_88 posted...

Yeah, that rule sounds stupid and i don't get why they made it

To protect big private corporations who stand to gain from it

---

It is not budget related but absolutely crazy. It is however due to a ruling in Kammarrtten (one of our courts) and the Statistical Central Bureau then made the decision. So it is semi-separate from the political sphere and covers all schools, but public and private.



---

That's just one aspect of the issue though. The main issue is that private schools are gaining more power and draining resources from the public sector. That story is part of a bigger picture, where the corporations get more and more legal protections to do whatever they want. That's a big reason I'm skeptic to the extra money allocated to schools. For example, the company Atvexa's sole purpose is to buy private schools and then own them. They don't contribute anything, but they take profit. And when private schools market themselves to parents and kids who are low maintenance, they can survive with low staff costs, pocketing large amounts of money. Meanwhile public schools end up with a disproportionate amount of students with extra needs, but no compensatory funds for it.

So tl;dr: I'm very unhappy with the school budget as long as private companies are allowed to wreak havoc the way they are currently. This guy tweets a lot of good things about it:
https://twitter.com/Skolinkvisition/status/1307775764029411330

---

We see eye to eye on this issue.

Frbjud eller kraftigt begrnsa vinster i vlfrden!

The extra school money is for the municipalities though so it is up to them if they share it with private schools.

---

BalanceLost posted...

We see eye to eye on this issue.

Frbjud eller kraftigt begrnsa vinster i vlfrden!

The extra school money is for the municipalities though so it is up to them if they share it with private schools.

Yeah, this is the crux. Municipalities are really corrupt and invite private schools like the IES to establish and then become reliant on them. So the private school sector can hold municipalities hostage. S and MP voted through the 100% school peng for private schools, and while they did it with pressure from C and L, they could at least have some dignity and admit that it's a problem and they don't want it.
But yeah, it's related to the budget but not like, concretely in the budget.

---

It's actually sossarna's softening on vinster i vlfrden that has made me completely lose faith in the party and slide further left. I think it's a massive betrayal of the core principles of arbetarrrelsen.

---

BalanceLost posted...

The money will go to the Armed Forces.

boo
---

A return to a nationalized school system could mend some of the problems. At least reduce the power of private schools over municipalities. Elderly care should also be phased away from municipal rule. The delreform in the 90s is a Neoliberal mess deluxe.

I want Lfven to resign as PM and party leader. Someone like Ardalan Shekarabi should take his place: young but knowledgeable, very Left on vlfrd issues but tough on immigration and crime. That is what I would like.

Edit: Ardalan is one of the architects behind a-kassan being more generous because of covid and the increased funding for elderly care and higher pensions.

teepan95 posted...

boo

*strokes guns*

We need to strengthen our military because of Russia quite seriously. Kreml keeps threatening us and our neighbours.

---

Ew, I would like that even less. "Tough on crime" is a big warning sign for me. Unless the crimes you're referring to are the recent money laundering schemes in which Nordea among others was implicated, or embezzling millions/billions of tax-payer moneys to their spouse's consulting firm while running the Stockholm region, or any of the other bajillion things that rich people get away with scot free.

---

BalanceLost posted...

*strokes guns*

We need to strengthen our military because of Russia quite seriously. Kreml keeps threatening us and our neighbours.

I'm glad Germany has stated we'll take a firmer stance on Russia after the Nawalny case. I'm not optimistic that we'll follow through, especially with Nord Stream 2
---

scar the 1 posted...

Ew, I would like that even less. "Tough on crime" is a big warning sign for me. Unless the crimes you're referring to are the recent money laundering schemes in which Nordea among others was implicated, or embezzling millions/billions of tax-payer moneys to their spouse's consulting firm while running the Stockholm region, or any of the other bajillion things that rich people get away with scot free.

What would you prefer in a party leader? :)

And yes, tough on crime in my book at least covers both thugs and the rich.
Talking about Sthlm, I pray M will lose power there by the next election.

teepan95 posted...

I'm glad Germany has stated we'll take a firmer stance on Russia after the Nawalny case. I'm not optimistic that we'll follow through, especially with Nord Stream 2

Germany would be a welcome ally against the Ruskies. Break free of your gas dependence.

---

BalanceLost posted...

Germany would be a welcome ally against the Ruskies. Break free of your gas dependence.

Won't happen under Merkel, I don't think.

I wonder who'll take over once she leaves
---

teepan95 posted...

Won't happen under Merkel, I don't think.

I wonder who'll take over once she leaves

Any candidates?

---

teepan95 posted...

Won't happen under Merkel, I don't think.

I wonder who'll take over once she leaves

Wasn't she priming a candidate to replace her? I remember headlines and that the woman had a name that was hilarious in Swedish

---

BalanceLost posted...

What would you prefer in a party leader? :)

And yes, tough on crime in my book at least covers both thugs and the rich.
Talking about Sthlm, I pray M will lose power there by the next election.

What I initially liked about Lfvn was his union background, implying he could negotiate well. At this point I'm not sure I feel anything about him, but he's good for memes.

What I would prefer? Someone who focuses on the core ideals and vision of the party. I think I've said this before but right now, the only ones doing that even remotely are Sjstedt and kesson. I want every sakpolitisk point to always be presented in relation to their vision of what our country should be, and the ideals of the party. For S that should mean a much heavier emphasis on worker solidarity, on reducing klassklyftor. Persson was great at this - not necessarily in policy but you can barely say Gran Persson without thinking "minska klassklyftorna", similar to how Sjstedt is synonymous with "inga vinster i vlfrden". So that's what I want, a leader who is less interested in squabbles about sakpolitik and more interested in conveying and implementing their party's vision.

---

i've never gave much thought to "Vinster i Vlfrden" before
i'm leaning towards that they're bad, mostly cause i'd like it if the private schools just chilled a bit, especially the religious private schools

---

scar the 1 posted...

teepan95 posted...

Won't happen under Merkel, I don't think.

I wonder who'll take over once she leaves

Wasn't she priming a candidate to replace her? I remember headlines and that the woman had a name that was hilarious in Swedish

AKK, you mean

I'm not sure tbh. Haven't really heard much of her recently

BalanceLost posted...

teepan95 posted...

Won't happen under Merkel, I don't think.

I wonder who'll take over once she leaves

Any candidates?

Yeah, but everyone's so forgettable lmao
---

Gonna respond but save from the puuuuurge

---

scar the 1 posted...

I remember headlines and that the woman had a name that was hilarious in Swedish

Which name is this?

---

ROBANN_88 posted...

scar the 1 posted...

I remember headlines and that the woman had a name that was hilarious in Swedish

Which name is this?

I'm guessing he means AKK. Her full name is Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, which I had to Google >_>
---

Then, i must be missing the joke

---

teepan95 posted...

I'm guessing he means AKK. Her full name is Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, which I had to Google >_>

That's not the one. This was a couple years ago. I don't remember the name but it was definitely funnier than that.

---