Employee funds ( sv, Löntagarfonder), sometimes referred to as Wage Earner funds, is a

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

version of

sovereign wealth funds A sovereign wealth fund (SWF), sovereign investment fund, or social wealth fund is a state-owned investment fund that invests in real and financial assets such as stocks, bonds, real estate, precious metals, or in alternative investments such as ...

whereby the Swedish government taxed a proportion of company profits and put into special funds charged to buy shares in listed Swedish companies, with the goal of gradually transferring companies from private to collective employee ownership. The funds were controlled by representatives of Swedish

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

History

The idea was launched in the 1970s, with

Rudolf Meidner Rudolf Alfred Meidner (1914–2005) was a Swedish economist and socialist. Biography Son of Alfred Meidner and Elise Bandmann, Meidner was born on 23 June 1914 in Breslau, Silesia. He was forced to flee Nazi Germany after the Reichstag fire in ...

playing a leading role in developing the idea, and they were in place from 1982 to 1991. Throughout their existence, they caused much political controversy. Proponents described them as an attempt to increase the power of labour over Swedish companies, and opponents described them as large step towards socialism. They were introduced following the

Social Democrat Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...

victory at the

1982 Swedish general election __NOTOC__ Year 198 (CXCVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sergius and Gallus (or, less frequently, year 951 ''Ab u ...

and accumulated funds until the

1991 Swedish general election General elections were held in Sweden on 15 September 1991. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1858 The Swedish Social Democratic Party remained the largest party in the Riksdag, winning 138 of th ...

, when the Social Democrats lost and so the effort was abolished. While the accumulated wealth was transferred to two holding vehicles named Atle and Bure. Both vehicles were subsequently listed on the

Stockholm Stock Exchange Nasdaq Stockholm, formerly known as the Stockholm Stock Exchange ( sv, Stockholmsbörsen), is a stock exchange located in Frihamnen, Stockholm, Sweden. Founded in 1863, it has become the primary securities exchange of the Nordic countries. As o ...

. On October 4, 1983, an anti-employee funds demonstration in Stockholm gathered between 80,000 and 100,000 participants. It was the largest political protest - in terms of numbers mobilised - to take place in Sweden, from the liberal and right wing political block. Subsequent Social Democrat victories, such as the one in

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

, did not lead to their reintroduction, as leading members of the party found the whole debate surrounding the funds a problem for the party. Famously, Minister of Finance

Kjell-Olof Feldt Kjell-Olof Feldt (born 18 August 1931) is a Swedish Social Democratic politician who was minister of finance between 1983 and 1990. Previously, Feldt was assistant minister of finance from 1975 to 1976 and minister of commerce and industry f ...

was captured on camera while he was writing a negative poem about the funds in his bench in Parliament after they had been introduced. During the

2020 United States presidential election The 2020 United States presidential election was the 59th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and the junior U.S. senator from California Kamala Ha ...

, the candidate

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007 ...

proposed for employee funds to be adopted in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Employee Funds Economic history of Sweden Politics of Sweden 1980s in Sweden Ownership Market socialism