Author Archives: gubbdjavel

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Luka and Putin, a match made in Hell.

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Spoiler: just when you thought that they couldn’t be more bizarre, Lukashenka and Vladimir the Underpants Poisoner (Putin for short), accused USA of plotting an attempt to assassinate Lukashenka. But in a way, it makes sense. In their world, people who demand freedom and democracy are foreign agents trying to overthrow them in “colour revolutions”. If successful, the best Luka and Vladimir can hope for is an escape to a country whose government turns a blind eye to toppled corrupt killers like them.

But that is unlikely to happen. The two dictators are about to “merge” even though they deny it. The accounts of the latest meeting suggest that their union building is “progressing”. They mention a lot of areas where their co-operation is going forward. But let’s have a look at some areas they don’t mention.

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Poverty reduction, inequality, and repression in genocidal Communist China.

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Spoiler: the hypocritical Communist regime wants us to believe that it has eradicated poverty. We all know that there are enormous gaps in income and wealth in China. Instead of acknowledging this, the communist regime banned Thomas Piketty’s book where the rising inequalities in China are analysed. Piketty was told that the book could only be published in China if the truth about China was censored. Piketty refused of course.

Most ordinary Chinese are not aware of this. The regime controls the access to Internet, monitors social media and clamps down on everyone who dares to discuss this or the genocide of the Uighurs or other matters. Those that get caught fear the risk of being tortured.  

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The stagnating Construction industry slows down Swedish growth

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Spoiler: The historically meagre productivity growth of the Swedish Construction industry is a serious problem. Low productivity growth for an industry does not have to be a problem if the industry is small relative to the rest of the economy. But it is problematic when a large industry’s share in the economy is increasing over time at the same time as its productivity growth is stagnating. The Swedish Construction industry’s contribution to overall Swedish productivity growth is almost as small as the public sector’s contribution.

Unless the Construction industry’s productivity growth increases, the other industries’ productivity growth will have to increase. The increases will have to be continuously higher as long as the Construction sector’s share of the economy keep increasing. The reasons behind the weak productivity growth are well-known. Weak competition, many and complex regulations, municipal monopoly of the planning process for buildings, and other factors leading to high entry costs making it difficult for new firms enter the markets.

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Byggindustrin bromsar tillväxten

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I korthet: Den historiskt låga produktiviteten inomsvensk byggindustri är ett allvarligt problem. Att produktiviteten inom en bransch är låg behöver inte vara ett problem om branschen är liten i förhållande till den övriga ekonomin. Men om en stor bransch har låg produktivitet och samtidigt ökar sin andel av ekonomin, så uppstår problem. Den svensk byggindustrins bidrag till den totala produktivitetstillväxten är nästan lika låg som den offentliga sektorns.

Om inte produktiviteten inom byggindustrin kan fås att stiga, så ökar trycket på ökningar av produktiviteten inom de andra branscherna. Orsakerna till den låga produktiviteten beror till stor del på den svaga konkurrensen inom branschen. An English version will follow soon.

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