Fortune (February 6)
“The amount companies are spending on AI infrastructure now rivals that of some of the largest economies in the world and is comparable to the annual GDP of countries like Sweden and Israel.” Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft combined are expected to allocate “more than a staggering $630 billion” to CAPEX in 2026 for “such big-ticket infrastructure items as data centers, servers, and power systems that fuel the AI build-out race.”
Tags: $630 billion, 2026, AI, Alphabet, Amazon, CAPEX, Data centers, GDP, Infrastructure, Israel, Meta, Microsoft, Servers, Staggering, Sweden
Seeking Alpha (May 8)
“Sweden is following Switzerland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic in easing monetary policy for the first time since hiking cycles began in 2022, when inflation surfaced in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic.” The quarter point cut of the overnight rate by the Riksbank makes “it more likely that the ECB will also jump on the bandwagon. The shift is noteworthy to global investors as it highlights the current central bank divergence taking place across the world.”
Tags: Aftermath, Central bank, Covid, Czech Republic, Easing, ECB, Global investors, Hungary, Inflation, Monetary policy, Pandemic, Riksbank, Sweden, Switzerland
Market Watch (May 22)
“Sweden’s policy of keeping schools, restaurants and businesses open while practising social distancing to prevent the coronavirus pandemic from spreading was seen as bold, but now it has now it has the highest deaths per capita in Europe from COVID-19.”
Tags: Businesses, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Deaths, Europe, Pandemic, Prevent, Restaurants, Schools, Social distancing, Sweden
The Local Sweden (May 20)
“It might be appealing to make the conclusion that Sweden has managed to keep the epidemic under control, without having to restrict individuals and businesses or pressing pause on the country’s whole economy to the same extent as elsewhere in Europe. But that would be a dangerous conclusion to draw…. What Sweden cannot teach others is how to stem the pandemic without a high human cost.”
Tags: Conclusion, Dangerous, Economy, Epidemic, Europe, Human cost, Pandemic, Restrict, Sweden
Barron’s (September 12)
“Be careful what you wish for when calling for zero or negative interest rates, Mr. President.” There’s a downside and the results are not inspiring. “The record of negative rates in the euro zone, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, and Japan has been mixed…. While bond yields have fallen below zero, banks been reluctant to impose negative rates on depositors, resulting in a squeeze on their profits.”
Tags: Banks, Bond yields, Denmark, Depositors, Downside, EU, Interest rates, Japan, Negative rates, Sweden, Switzerland, Trump, U.S.
Reuters (June 4)
“A Swedish-born anti-flying movement is spreading to other European countries.” The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is “shrinking its carbon footprint” and working to avoid stigma with a sustainability plan that “is among the most ambitious and globally focused of any industry.” Carbon emissions have roughly been halved for flights since 1990, “largely thanks to more fuel-efficient aircraft.” For the moment, however, “trains are benefiting from the anti-flight movement.”
Tags: Aircraft, Carbon footprint, Emissions, Europe, Fuel-efficient, IATA, Stigma, Sustainability, Sweden, Trains
Newsweek (October 25)
“The power of a U.S. passport has plummeted under President Donald Trump. American passports have now fallen behind those of 18 countries in terms of global mobility—a staggering collapse…. In 2015, the United States tied for first place with the United Kingdom on the list; last year, it slipped to fourth place. Americans now trails 18 countries, including Belgium, Japan, Sweden and first-place Singapore.” Japan tied for fourth place behind Singapore, Germany, Sweden and South Korea.
Tags: Belgium, Collapse, Germany, Global mobility, Japan, Passport, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Trump, U.S., UK
Financial Times (December 30)
During 2014, populists “enjoyed one of their most encouraging years since the second world war. Insurgent anti-establishment movements recorded electoral triumphs and opinion poll gains everywhere from France and Greece to Spain, Sweden and the UK.” Despite this resurgence, the populist movements are often at cross-purposes, differing widely in what they support.
Institutional Investor (August Issue)
Several years ago Switzerland adopted a currency floor to stem the Swiss franc’s appreciation against the euro. “Last November, the Czech Republic followed suit, threatening to intervene in the currency market if the ikoruna strengthened.” Now, with the euro poised to continue depreciating, some are wondering whether Sweden will be the next to “follow Switzerland’s lead by adopting a currency floor?”
Tags: Appreciation, Currency floor, Currency market, Czech Republic, Depreciating, euro, Franc, Ikoruna, Sweden, Switzerland
Financial Times (May 29)
Britain’s GDP is set to increase by £10 billion as the Office for National Statistics begins to include illegal drug sales and prostitution in its calculations. To move into alignment with EU standards many countries have already taken this step. Italy is also advancing plans to include “among other activities, the sale of cocaine and prostitution.” Estonia, Austria, Slovenia, Finland, Sweden and Norway have already added prostitution and illegal drugs to their GDP calculations.
Tags: Alignment, Austria, Britain, Calculations, Cocaine, Drug sales, Estonia, EU, Finland, GDP, Italy, Norway, Prostitution, Slovenia, Statistics, Sweden
