Sven Otto Julius Littorin (born 1966) is a Swedish former politician and architect of major structural reforms. As

Minister for Employment , type = Department , seal = , logo = Department for Work and Pensions logo.svg , logo_width = 166px , formed = , preceding1 = , jurisdiction = Government of the United Kingdom , headquarters = Caxton House7th Floor6–12 Tothill Stree ...

in the cabinet of

Fredrik Reinfeldt John Fredrik Reinfeldt (pronounced ; born 4 August 1965) is a Swedish economist, lecturer, and former politician who was Prime Minister of Sweden from 2006 to 2014, and chairman of the liberal conservative Moderate Party from 2003 to 2015. He wa ...

, he was in charge of the major overhaul of Swedish labor policies between 2006-2010. As President of the European Council of Ministers, in its Epsco formation, he oversaw the European Union response to labor market effects during the financial crisis of 2008-09. As party secretary of the

Moderate Party The Moderate Party ( sv, Moderata samlingspartiet , ; M), commonly referred to as the Moderates ( ), is a liberal-conservative political party in Sweden. The party generally supports tax cuts, the free market, civil liberties and economic liber ...

2002-2006, he played a major role in restructuring the party. As chief of staff to Minister for Fiscal and Financial Affairs during the Swedish banking crisis of 1992, he was one of the architects behind the Swedish banking rescue that

Paul Krugman Paul Robin Krugman ( ; born February 28, 1953) is an American economist, who is Distinguished Professor of Economics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and a columnist for ''The New York Times''. In 2008, Krugman was th ...

later proposed as a model for solving the

Financial crisis of 2007–2008 Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fi ...

. He was born and grew up in

Östergötland Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English li ...

, where he was active in the

Moderate Youth League The Moderate Youth League ( sv, Moderata ungdomsförbundet ; MUF), officially known in English as the Swedish Young Conservatives, is the youth wing of the Swedish Moderate Party. Of the political youth organizations that received financial supp ...

from an early stage. He was national chairman of the Moderate School Youth, a part of the youth league, 1984-1985. He has a B.Sc. in economics and business administration at

Lund University , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for both , established = , type = Public research university , budget = SEK 9 billion MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from the

unaccredited Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

Fairfax University Fairfax University was an unaccreditedSeOregon Office of Degree Authorization List of Unaccredited colleges anInstitutions Whose Degrees are Illegal to Use in Texas distance-learning institution established in Louisiana in 1986 and discontinued in ...

(at the time licensed in Louisiana), but that

degree Degree may refer to: As a unit of measurement * Degree (angle), a unit of angle measurement ** Degree of geographical latitude ** Degree of geographical longitude * Degree symbol (°), a notation used in science, engineering, and mathematics ...

was removed from his list of qualifications after it aroused controversy in June 2007Minister got some explaining to do
''Independent Online'', June 21, 2007. In 2011, Littorin was a visiting scholar at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. Since 2011 he has been a political affairs consultant, based in London, England. Between 1991 and 1993, he was chief of staff to Minister for Fiscal and Financial Affairs,

Bo Lundgren Bo Axel Magnus Lundgren (born 11 July 1947) is a Swedish politician. He was the leader of the Moderate Party from 1999 to 2003.Kreab. In 1997, he co-founded Momentor AB, a venture capital company, and worked as a senior partner until 2002. In 2002, he was appointed party secretary by

Bo Lundgren Bo Axel Magnus Lundgren (born 11 July 1947) is a Swedish politician. He was the leader of the Moderate Party from 1999 to 2003.Fredrik Reinfeldt John Fredrik Reinfeldt (pronounced ; born 4 August 1965) is a Swedish economist, lecturer, and former politician who was Prime Minister of Sweden from 2006 to 2014, and chairman of the liberal conservative Moderate Party from 2003 to 2015. He wa ...

's team. He has played an integral part in the subsequent modernisation of the party. After the success of the Moderate Party in the 2006 general election, he resigned as secretary general, and was later named Minister for Employment in the cabinet presented by Prime Minister Reinfeldt on 6 October 2006. Until 31 December 2006, this ministerial post was located within the Ministry of Enterprise, after which a separate Ministry of Employment. On 7 July 2010, he announced his immediate resignation, citing personal circumstances.Sveriges Radio: "Sven Otto Littorin avgår"

Reforms

As Sweden's Minister for Employment, Littorin was in charge of USD 12bn of the government budget; the second largest part of public spending, covering areas such as the unemployment insurance system, active labor market programs, and nine government agencies, including the Swedish Public Employment Service, the Work Environment Authority, and the Labor Court. Littorin was in charge of some of the major policy reforms introduced during the first government of Prime Minister

. These reforms included a major overhaul of the unemployment insurance system and a complete renovation of the Public Employment Service, introducing new instructions, a new board of directors, a new management team, a new structure and organization, new targets and incentives, as well as opening up for private competition. He has the current record of having answered the highest number of questions in Parliament - 337 - during one single term. As a Minister, he gave over 4.000 interviews, and made numerous public appearances domestically and internationally; among others for the

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries ...

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...

, and

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. During the Swedish Presidency of the European Union in autumn 2009, Littorin was also President of the European Council of Ministers, in its Epsco formation (Ministers for Employment, Social Policy, Health, and Consumer Affairs). As such, he oversaw European Union response to labor market effects caused by the financial crisis of 2008-2009. Littorin was also member of the Swedish Government's Globalization Council.

Resignation

On 7 July 2010, Littorin announced his immediate resignation. He had the day before been confronted by a reporter for the Swedish newspaper ''

Aftonbladet ''Aftonbladet'' (, lit. "The evening paper") is a Swedish daily newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. It is one of the largest daily newspapers in the Nordic countries. History and profile The newspaper was founded by Lars Johan H ...

'' whether it was true that he had purchased sex."Aftonbladet: Anna, 30: Jag sålde sex till Sven Otto Littorin"
Littorin denied the allegations, but nevertheless resigned from the government. The official reason that he stated was the "harshness" of the media against him and his children, as well as "for private reasons", following divorce and a custody battle over his children. Since 2013, he is married to Therése Evling.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Littorin, Sven Otto 1966 births Living people Moderate Party politicians People using unaccredited degrees Swedish Ministers for Employment Swedish bloggers