The Politics of Profits: Profit Squeeze and Political-Economic Change in Sweden, 1975–85
(2025) In Journal of Contemporary History- Abstract
- In the mid- to late 1970s, the Swedish economy faced a profit squeeze which threatened to hamper investments and the creation of jobs. This engendered a massive debate in the media and among economists and policymakers. This article investigates what I call ‘the politics of profits, the debates around the role of corporate profits in a democratic capitalist society and economy and the policy measures directed towards manipulating the distribution between capital income and labour income. The Swedish political economy from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s presents an important case in that the mid-1970s saw labour movement radicalization and proposals for socialization of investment, but the outcome by the mid-1980s was rather a move toward... (More)
- In the mid- to late 1970s, the Swedish economy faced a profit squeeze which threatened to hamper investments and the creation of jobs. This engendered a massive debate in the media and among economists and policymakers. This article investigates what I call ‘the politics of profits, the debates around the role of corporate profits in a democratic capitalist society and economy and the policy measures directed towards manipulating the distribution between capital income and labour income. The Swedish political economy from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s presents an important case in that the mid-1970s saw labour movement radicalization and proposals for socialization of investment, but the outcome by the mid-1980s was rather a move toward greater emphasis on stock saving and raising capital via the capital markets, that is ‘financialisation’. The contradictory history of the period sheds new light on the much-discussed shift from a social democracy postwar period to a more market liberal economy in the 1980s and 1990s. (Less)
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https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/e874646d-cd7d-4fed-9c1c-8b5105034ac1
- author
- Bengtsson, Erik LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2025-12
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- epub
- subject
- in
- Journal of Contemporary History
- publisher
- SAGE Publications
- ISSN
- 0022-0094
- DOI
- 10.1177/00220094251396891
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- e874646d-cd7d-4fed-9c1c-8b5105034ac1
- date added to LUP
- 2025-12-02 10:14:25
- date last changed
- 2025-12-02 12:39:48
@article{e874646d-cd7d-4fed-9c1c-8b5105034ac1,
abstract = {{In the mid- to late 1970s, the Swedish economy faced a profit squeeze which threatened to hamper investments and the creation of jobs. This engendered a massive debate in the media and among economists and policymakers. This article investigates what I call ‘the politics of profits, the debates around the role of corporate profits in a democratic capitalist society and economy and the policy measures directed towards manipulating the distribution between capital income and labour income. The Swedish political economy from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s presents an important case in that the mid-1970s saw labour movement radicalization and proposals for socialization of investment, but the outcome by the mid-1980s was rather a move toward greater emphasis on stock saving and raising capital via the capital markets, that is ‘financialisation’. The contradictory history of the period sheds new light on the much-discussed shift from a social democracy postwar period to a more market liberal economy in the 1980s and 1990s.}},
author = {{Bengtsson, Erik}},
issn = {{0022-0094}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{SAGE Publications}},
series = {{Journal of Contemporary History}},
title = {{The Politics of Profits: Profit Squeeze and Political-Economic Change in Sweden, 1975–85}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00220094251396891}},
doi = {{10.1177/00220094251396891}},
year = {{2025}},
}