Sweden

Sweden’s GDP jumped up in the early 2000’s but has remained steady since at about $56,000 per capita. There was a time when Sweden was looked upon by American liberals as an inspirational example of the welfare state but that has changed. At the end of the 2008 mortgage crisis Sweden began allowing immigrants from around the world and today foreign-born account for 20% of the population. These new arrivals have not integrated into society but have formed enclaves. Present day Sweden carries the dubious distinction of having the highest rate of gangland killings in Europe. Sweden has transitioned from being a model of inspiration to becoming a warning example. Sweden, a country of 10 million now has 2 million immigrants who are mostly from the Middle East. After staying out of WW 2, Sweden had evolved into a high performing export-oriented economy, based on stable parliamentary democracy and social consensus. The country had top notch health care and education. It enjoyed social and gender equality, had low crime rates and little ethnic conflict. It is no surprise that there was little ethnic conflict as Sweden, like other Scandinavian countries, was one group. They had similar backgrounds, similar religion and culture. They even looked alike but that has now changed with these new arrivals. .