Sweden is rethinking its economic model in favor of one that's more friendly to small businesses and startups. (InstaPundit.com, 02/09/06.)
Here is an excerpt from the article (Sweden looks to fuel growth via economic, market reforms) Glenn Reynolds is linking to.
The non-socialist alliance's main goal is to lower taxation on labor and wealth, but it seeks to abolish unnecessary rules and regulations for those who start up their own company. Easing the path for Swedish entrepreneurs is a key issue on both sides of the political spectrum. Since the peak years between 1997 and 2000, the number of entrepreneurs has gone down dramatically with 20,000 fewer people starting up their own company in 2005. (MarketWatch.com, 02/09/06.)
I would be happy if this is really the case, but I think it is a long way to go... It is soon election time in Sweden and the debate is heating up between the politicians in power and business leaders.
The Social Democrats' party secretary Marita Ulvskog has accused Sweden's biggest companies of intentionally withholding investment in order to make the government look bad in the run-up to the election in September. Instead, she says, they are choosing to lavish billions on shareholders. (TheLocal.se, 02/08/06.)
IdeaTank will organize lectures and meetings on how to change the business climate. This week we had a meeting with the real estate owner, signing the contract. We will have the keys to the premises on March 1. We want to open for the public as soon as possible, but it takes time to deal with different agencies. The Companies Registration Office has taken about a month to handle our application. After we have got our "organization number," we have to send the blue print and a detailed list of the place to a similar agency (environment and food) like FDA. We are not allowed to start our business until a bureaucrat has come on a visit, checking our place. This procedure could take several weeks. We have to come up with our own "critical control point" program. There are new rules in the EU since January 1, 2006.
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