I had to read this story twice to get the full import of it but apparently, Sweden has said "no" to Saab auto company and will not bail it out.
That's right; the socialist country we love to point to as an example of state control is saying they want nothing to do with owning car companies:
Such a view might seem jarring, coming as it does from a country with a reputation for a paternalistic view of workers and companies. The “Swedish model” for dealing with a banking crisis — nationalizing the banks, recapitalizing them and selling them — has been much debated lately in the United States, with free-market defenders warning of a slippery slope of Nordic socialism.
But Sweden has a right-leaning government, elected in 2006 after a long period of Social Democratic rule, that prefers market forces to state intervention and ownership. That fact has made the workers of Trollhattan wish the old socialist model were more in evidence.
“I don’t think the government knows the situation in this town, how many people depend on Saab,” said Therese Doeij, 25, a clerk at a photo shop who has several friends who work at the company. “To them it’s just a factory. They don’t see the people behind it.”
This is a common complaint coming from leftists and it leaves out the obvious; perhaps the government sees the entire population and the whole economy and not just the residents of one town when they make a decision like refusing to bail out a failing company.
This seems to be lost on the current occupant of the White House who sees all those UAW campaign dollars going up in smoke unless he does something to help the union keep their members employed.
Oh for the wisdom of the Swedes!
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