ABSTRACT
At the end of World War II, five nations reigned as the world's most affluent in gross national product. Sweden ranked fifth, behind first-ranked United States followed by Canada, New Zealand, and Switzerland. In the mid-1970s Sweden passed the others to emerge briefly as the world's wealthiest nation, only to be surpassed later in the decade by Switzerland. Both nations maintain their independence outside the European Economic Community, yet rely heavily on foreign trade. To maintain high economic growth, both have had to depend strongly since World War II on the importation of foreign workers. Both are noted for their lack of labor-management conflicts, stemming from similar national labor-management agreements drawn up in the late 1930s. Switzerland and Sweden both show strong sense of national solidarity that is due, in part, to their relative isolation from the European conflicts of the past few centuries.
