Elisabeth Lindberg: The Game of Economic Policy: Competitive production of ideas in a Swedish landscape of economic experts and policymakers 1962–1990

Abstract

This dissertation deals with Swedish economic policy in the historical context of late 20th century economic turmoil. At its heart there is a landscape of economic experts and policymakers, which embodies the competitive nature of economic policy. Such competition in production of economic and political ideas is what constitutes this “landscape of expertise”, within which power struggles, negotiations and compromises take place. By combining previous research on economic ideas and political processes of change a new perspective on the Swedish model and its transformation during the period 1962–1990 is presented. The dissertation’s contribution to the fields of policy change and history of economic ideas is to explore the landscape of expertise and its heterogeneity of ideas. This contribution shows that economic policy is a complex area where different historical paths are intertwined. The combination of complexity and longevity makes it a particularly suitable subject for scholars of economic history.