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Sweden in Focus

Why is Sweden the worst-performing economy in the EU?

Season 5, Ep. 8


In the latest episode of our Sweden in Focus podcast, host Paul O’Mahony is joined by panelists James Savage, Richard Orange and Emma Löfgren. Our guest this week is Peter Gerlach, an economist with the Swedish Trade Union Confederation (LO).


We kick off with a chat about the Migration Agency and why the government has decided it wants to replace Mikael Ribbenvik, who has headed the agency for the last seven years. 



Then we delve into a story that has had observers scratching their heads for the past couple of weeks. What exactly is going on in Botkyrka? Emma wrote a bit about it in her latest Politics in Sweden column. 



We also look closer at a couple of stories that seem frivolous at first glance but in fact deal with serious societal problems.



In the latest in our series of interviews with ambassadors, we chat to Germany's Joachim Bertele about the deep historical ties that underpin Sweden's strong relationship with the largest economy in Europe.


Finally we get analysis from Peter Gerlach on the state of the Swedish economy following an EU forecast that puts Sweden at the bottom of the class. 


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