ABSTRACT
Sweden is one of the rich industrially developed countries of the world. For human beings the changes have often involved a great sacrifice of individual happiness and liberty. Industrialization in Sweden was impelled from abroad. The growth of industry involved greater specialization, and this could never have been carried so far if in the first instance it had been a purely national phenomenon. Inertia in techniques and high fixed costs gave almost every new industrial entrepreneur an advantage which he could often hold for a considerable period. Structural change has become increasingly reconcilable with a rapid rise in the standard of living, the possibilities of choice, and security for the individual. It was only with full employment and the welfare policy launched in the 1930s and extended in later years that a rise in the standard of living was brought about in which all could share, through more equitable distribution.
