Johan Norberg (; born 27 August 1973) is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

author and historian of ideas, devoted to promoting

economic globalization Economic globalization is one of the three main dimensions of globalization commonly found in academic literature, with the two others being political globalization and cultural globalization, as well as the general term of globalization. Econom ...

and what he describes as

classical liberal Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics; civil liberties under the rule of law with especial emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, econom ...

positions. He is arguably most known as the author of '' In Defense of Global Capitalism'' (2001) and '' Progress: Ten Reasons to Look Forward to the Future'' (2016). Since 15 March 2007 he has been a senior fellow at the

Cato Institute The Cato Institute is an American libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Ed Crane, Murray Rothbard, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries.Koch Ind ...

, and since January 2017 an executive editor at Free To Choose Media, where he regularly produces documentaries for US public television.

Early life and education

Johan Norberg was born in Stockholm, the son of former Swedish National Archivist Erik Norberg and his wife Birgitta. He grew up in the suburb of

Hässelby Hässelby is a Swedish town that is a part of Hässelby-Vällingby in the city of Stockholm, Sweden, comprising the suburban areas Hässelby Gård, Hässelby Strand and Hässelby Villastad. The territory also corresponds to Hässelby parish in ...

in western Stockholm. In his youth, Norberg was active as a left-anarchist but later abandoned those views and became a

. According to the biography given at his personal website, Norberg was disillusioned with the anarchist view of liberty when he discovered the collectivist themes in the major anarchist works, and was unable to sympathize with the pre-industrial society which its

anarcho-primitivism Anarcho-primitivism is an anarchist critique of civilization (anti-civ) that advocates a return to non-civilized ways of life through deindustrialization, abolition of the division of labor or specialization, and abandonment of large-scale organ ...

promoted. This realization made him embrace classical liberalism, which he felt "took freedom seriously." He studied at Stockholm University from 1992 to 1999 and earned a

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

with a major in the

history of ideas Intellectual history (also the history of ideas) is the study of the history of human thought and of intellectuals, people who conceptualize, discuss, write about, and concern themselves with ideas. The investigative premise of intellectual his ...

. His other subjects included philosophy,

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

and

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

. During his time at Stockholm University he was active in the libertarian network Frihetsfronten ("the Liberty Front") and was the editor of its journal '' Nyliberalen'' ("The Neoliberal"/"The Libertarian") from 1993 to 1997.

Career

In 1997, Norberg was contacted by the Swedish liberal think tank Timbro, who invited him to write a book about the Swedish author Vilhelm Moberg. The book, ''Motståndsmannen Vilhelm Moberg'', sold well and sparked much debate which allowed him to write another book, on the history of Swedish liberalism. This book, ''Den svenska liberalismens historia'', also became a success and in 1999 Norberg joined the permanent staff of Timbro. From 1999 to 2002 he was assistant editor-in-chief of the webzine Smedjan.com. In 1999 he started the website Frihandel.nu to put forward the case for

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econ ...

and open economies. Having participated in a number of debates against the Swedish anti-globalization movement, in May 2001 he released the book '' In Defense of Global Capitalism'' ( sv, Till världskapitalismens försvar) where he assembles his arguments for

globalization Globalization, or globalisation (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), see spelling differences), is the process of foreign relation ...

and free trade. In 2002 the book was selected for the Sir Antony Fisher International Memorial Award by the Atlas Economic Research Foundation and in 2003 Norberg was awarded the gold medal of the German Hayek Stiftung (an award shared with former British Prime Minister

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

and the German economist Otmar Issing). The British

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

also invited him to present the

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

'' Globalisation is Good'' (released in 2003), which is based on his book. From 2002 to 2005, Norberg was head of political ideas at Timbro. From 2006 to 2007 he was a Senior Fellow with the

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

-based think tank

Centre for the New Europe The Centre for the New Europe (CNE) was a free-market think tank founded in 1993 and based in Brussels. It focused on EU issues such as economic growth, managing environmental change, health and welfare policy, competition policy, and innovation. ...

. Since 15 March 2007 he has been a Senior Fellow at the

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

-based

. He is also a member of the international

Mont Pelerin Society The Mont Pelerin Society (MPS) is an international organization composed of economists, philosophers, historians, intellectuals and business leaders.Michael Novak, 'The Moral Imperative of a Free Economy', in '' The 4% Solution: Unleashing the E ...

. In January 2017 Norberg became Executive Editor of Free To Choose Media. In September 2020 he published the book ''Open: The Story of Human Progress'', described by

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...

as "clear, colourful and convincing".

Personal life

Norberg has two children.

Awards and honors

* Sir Antony Fisher International Memorial Award from the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, for the book ''In Defense of Global Capitalism'' (2002). * Prize of the Sture Lindmark Foundation for Public Debate, for opinion formation for free trade (May 2002). * Gold medal of the Friedrich-August-von-Hayek-Stiftung, shared with former British Prime Minister

and ECB Chief Economist Otmar Issing (2003). * Voted Sweden's best blogger by the readers of the magazine '' Internetworld'' (2005). *

Curt Nicolin Curt René Nicolin (10 March 1921 – 8 September 2006) was a Swedish businessman. He served as the chairman of ASEA and the Swedish Employers Association. Early life Nicolin was born on 10 March 1921 in Stockholm, Sweden, the son of Felix Nicol ...

Memorial Award from the

Confederation of Swedish Enterprise The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise or Swedish Enterprise ( sv, Svenskt Näringsliv) is a major employers' organization for private sector and business sector companies in Sweden. It has 49 member associations representing 60,000 member comp ...

(2006). * James Joyce Award from the Literary and Historical Society of

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...

(2007) * Luminary Award from the Free Market Foundation (2016) * Julian L. Simon Memorial Award from the

Competitive Enterprise Institute The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) is a non-profit libertarian think tank founded by the political writer Fred L. Smith Jr. on March 9, 1984, in Washington, D.C., to advance principles of limited government, free enterprise, and individ ...

(2019)

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Norberg, Johan (2020). '' Open: The Story of Human Progress''. Atlantic Books. .

References

External links

JohanNorberg.net
– official website and blog
Globalisation is Good
– documentary film ''Globalisation is Good'' (2003) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Norberg, Johan 1973 births Living people Articles containing video clips Cato Institute people Stockholm University alumni Swedish bloggers Swedish classical liberals Swedish libertarians Swedish political writers Writers from Stockholm Member of the Mont Pelerin Society