Rudolf Meidner
Encyclopedia
Rudolf Alfred Meidner was a Swedish economist.
Son of Alfred Meidner and Elise Bandmann. Being Jewish and a Socialist he was forced to flee Nazi Germany
after the Reichstag fire
in Berlin
1933. In 1937 he was married to Ella Jörgenssen. He became a citizen of Sweden
in 1943.
He was an economist
and the developer of the employee funds as they were proposed by the Swedish Trade Union Confederation
in the 1970s. He studied for famous economist and Nobel Prize
Winner Gunnar Myrdal
. He got his PhD
in 1954 with a dissertation labeled "Swedish Labour Market at Full Employment".
He spent most of his work life at the Swedish Trade Union Confederation
as a researcher.
Meidner and another Swedish economist, Gösta Rehn, were responsible for the Rehn-Meidner model for economic growth as promulgated by the Swedish Social Democratic Party
and the blue-collar trade union, the LO
. The Rehn-Meidner model was first proposed in 1951, and for over the next 25 years was the basis for the low-inequality, high-tech oriented, rapid-innovation Swedish economy, which also was exposed to international trade and became export oriented. In response to the increasing demand on the part of workers, communities, and women for a share of the excess profits (permitted by a capital-labor-state wage suppression agreement) accumulated in an increasingly powerful capitalist sector, Rudulf Meidner created a proposal in 1976, published by the LO, that called for requiring all companies above a certain size to issue new stock shares to workers, so that within 20 years the workers would control 52% of the companies they worked in. This policy followed in Meidner's career-long efforts to build a step-wise, peaceful, institutionally supported transition to a socialist society whose carefully crafted incentive structure and culture would allow each member of society to work and contribute according to her or his capacity, and receive social support according to her or his needs. Supported by important Swedish policy designer Walter Korpi, Meidner's work was opposed by pro-capitalist Social Democrats
, including the aggressively conservative Finance Minister Kjell-Olof Feldt
, as well as Gosta Rehn (proponent of Active Labour Market Policies
) and Olof Palme
. The increasing ambitions and occasional militancy of the Swedish working class in conjunction with Meidner's careful, progressive socialist institutional planning politicized the Swedish capitalist class, via the Swedish Employers Foundation (SAF), who joined other countries' capitalist classes ramping up their political efforts to destroy working class organizational bases and to promote the capital deregulation and mobility that began to come to obvious crisis in the 2000s. The SAF's response was to model their political and policy strategies after the New Zealand capitalist class' campaign, which had successfully destroyed a labor movement of similar strength to the Swedish labor movement.
The Rehn-Meidner model resulted in Sweden having a very egalitarian wage system, so that wage differentials between professions was very low, fortifying a low Gini coefficient
. However, in the absence of the socialist steps urged by Meidner in the 1970s, the economic model resulted in capital concentration (Despite a very active social policy, Sweden has one of the highest percentages of private ownership of capital in the world.) to the point where in the late 1970s, 25% of share capital was held by the top 0.1% of shareholders and 75% by the top 10%. For the time being, the progressive taxation and pro-middle class state institutions promoted by the model extensively ameliorate this capital concentration, as can be seen in comparatively successful, egalitarian outcomes.
Son of Alfred Meidner and Elise Bandmann. Being Jewish and a Socialist he was forced to flee Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
after the Reichstag fire
Reichstag fire
The Reichstag fire was an arson attack on the Reichstag building in Berlin on 27 February 1933. The event is seen as pivotal in the establishment of Nazi Germany....
in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
1933. In 1937 he was married to Ella Jörgenssen. He became a citizen of Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
in 1943.
He was an economist
Economist
An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
and the developer of the employee funds as they were proposed by the Swedish Trade Union Confederation
Swedish Trade Union Confederation
The Swedish Trade Union Confederation , commonly referred to as LO, is a national trade union centre, an umbrella organisation for fifteen Swedish trade unions that organise mainly "blue-collar" workers...
in the 1970s. He studied for famous economist and Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
Winner Gunnar Myrdal
Gunnar Myrdal
Karl Gunnar Myrdal was a Swedish Nobel Laureate economist, sociologist, and politician. In 1974, he received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences with Friedrich Hayek for "their pioneering work in the theory of money and economic fluctuations and for their penetrating analysis of the...
. He got his PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in 1954 with a dissertation labeled "Swedish Labour Market at Full Employment".
He spent most of his work life at the Swedish Trade Union Confederation
Swedish Trade Union Confederation
The Swedish Trade Union Confederation , commonly referred to as LO, is a national trade union centre, an umbrella organisation for fifteen Swedish trade unions that organise mainly "blue-collar" workers...
as a researcher.
Meidner and another Swedish economist, Gösta Rehn, were responsible for the Rehn-Meidner model for economic growth as promulgated by the Swedish Social Democratic Party
Swedish Social Democratic Party
The Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party, , contesting elections as 'the Workers' Party – the Social Democrats' , or sometimes referred to just as 'the Social Democrats' and most commonly as Sossarna ; is the oldest and largest political party in Sweden. The party was founded in 1889...
and the blue-collar trade union, the LO
Swedish Trade Union Confederation
The Swedish Trade Union Confederation , commonly referred to as LO, is a national trade union centre, an umbrella organisation for fifteen Swedish trade unions that organise mainly "blue-collar" workers...
. The Rehn-Meidner model was first proposed in 1951, and for over the next 25 years was the basis for the low-inequality, high-tech oriented, rapid-innovation Swedish economy, which also was exposed to international trade and became export oriented. In response to the increasing demand on the part of workers, communities, and women for a share of the excess profits (permitted by a capital-labor-state wage suppression agreement) accumulated in an increasingly powerful capitalist sector, Rudulf Meidner created a proposal in 1976, published by the LO, that called for requiring all companies above a certain size to issue new stock shares to workers, so that within 20 years the workers would control 52% of the companies they worked in. This policy followed in Meidner's career-long efforts to build a step-wise, peaceful, institutionally supported transition to a socialist society whose carefully crafted incentive structure and culture would allow each member of society to work and contribute according to her or his capacity, and receive social support according to her or his needs. Supported by important Swedish policy designer Walter Korpi, Meidner's work was opposed by pro-capitalist Social Democrats
Swedish Social Democratic Party
The Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party, , contesting elections as 'the Workers' Party – the Social Democrats' , or sometimes referred to just as 'the Social Democrats' and most commonly as Sossarna ; is the oldest and largest political party in Sweden. The party was founded in 1889...
, including the aggressively conservative Finance Minister Kjell-Olof Feldt
Kjell-Olof Feldt
Kjell-Olof Feldt is a Swedish Social Democratic politician, born 18 August 1931 in Holmsund, since 1974 a part of Umeå Municipality, Västerbottens län. Feldt was Minister of Trade 1970-1975, and assistant Minister of Finance 1975-1976...
, as well as Gosta Rehn (proponent of Active Labour Market Policies
Active labour market policies
Active labour market policies are government programmes that intervene in the labour market to help the unemployed find work. Many of these programmes grew out of earlier public works projects designed to combat widespread unemployment in the developed world during the interwar period...
) and Olof Palme
Olof Palme
Sven Olof Joachim Palme was a Swedish politician. A long-time protegé of Prime Minister Tage Erlander, Palme led the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1969 to his assassination, and was a two-term Prime Minister of Sweden, heading a Privy Council Government from 1969 to 1976 and a cabinet...
. The increasing ambitions and occasional militancy of the Swedish working class in conjunction with Meidner's careful, progressive socialist institutional planning politicized the Swedish capitalist class, via the Swedish Employers Foundation (SAF), who joined other countries' capitalist classes ramping up their political efforts to destroy working class organizational bases and to promote the capital deregulation and mobility that began to come to obvious crisis in the 2000s. The SAF's response was to model their political and policy strategies after the New Zealand capitalist class' campaign, which had successfully destroyed a labor movement of similar strength to the Swedish labor movement.
The Rehn-Meidner model resulted in Sweden having a very egalitarian wage system, so that wage differentials between professions was very low, fortifying a low Gini coefficient
Gini coefficient
The Gini coefficient is a measure of statistical dispersion developed by the Italian statistician and sociologist Corrado Gini and published in his 1912 paper "Variability and Mutability" ....
. However, in the absence of the socialist steps urged by Meidner in the 1970s, the economic model resulted in capital concentration (Despite a very active social policy, Sweden has one of the highest percentages of private ownership of capital in the world.) to the point where in the late 1970s, 25% of share capital was held by the top 0.1% of shareholders and 75% by the top 10%. For the time being, the progressive taxation and pro-middle class state institutions promoted by the model extensively ameliorate this capital concentration, as can be seen in comparatively successful, egalitarian outcomes.
External links
- Rudolf Meidner, Why Did the Swedish Model Fail? (Socialist Register, 1993)
- Robin Blackburn, Rudolf Meidner, A Visionary Pragmatist