Nils Gunnar Åsling (15 December 1927 – 12 August 2017) was a Swedish politician in the Centre Party who served as minister for industry from 1976 to 1978, before returning to the post from 1979 to 1982, and as member of the Swedish parliament from 1969 to 1988.

Career

Åsling was born in Alsen, Sweden as the son of a farmer. He studied at the

Stockholm University College Stockholm University (SU) () is a public university, public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, social ...

from 1954 to 1956 where he got a degree in social work in 1955. He worked at ''Jordbrukarnas föreningsblad'', an agricultural newspaper, from 1953 to 1965 and was then head of communications at the forest industry company from 1963 to 1969. First entering the Riksdag as a member of the Centre Party in 1969, Åsling chaired the Finance Committee of the

Riksdag The Riksdag ( , ; also or , ) is the parliament and the parliamentary sovereignty, supreme decision-making body of the Kingdom of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral parliament with 349 members (), elected proportional rep ...

from 1974 to 1976, after which he was named minister for industry in the Fälldin I Cabinet. Åsling was subsequently replaced by in 1978, only to be reappointed in 1979 as part of the Fälldin II Cabinet. He served as minister in a period of industrial reorganisation of the

heavy industry Heavy industry is an industry that involves one or more characteristics such as large and heavy products; large and heavy equipment and facilities (such as heavy equipment, large machine tools, huge buildings and large-scale infrastructure); o ...

of Sweden, following a series of crises in the 1970s. This included the creation of steel company Svenskt Stål AB by the government takeover of a number of loss-making steel companies. The government involvement in several industries received criticism for being very costly, with long-lasting subsidies to shipmaker

Svenska Varv Svenska Varv AB was a Swedish state-owned company that was founded in 1977. It was formed to liquidate the many unprofitable assets of the Swedish shipbuilding industry which experienced a major financial crisis during 1969–1985 due to competi ...

an often cited example. After a change of government following the

1982 Swedish general election General elections were held in Sweden on 19 September 1982.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1858 They saw the return of the Swedish Social Democratic Party to power after six years in opposition, ...

, Åsling served as chair of (a forerunner of

Föreningsbanken Swedbank AB is a Swedish Multinational corporation, multinational banking group headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. It operates primarily in the Nordic countries, Nordic and Baltic States, Baltic regions, offering services such as retail banking ...

) from 1983 to 1992.Alt URL
/ref> He continued serving as a member of the Riksdag until 1988. His son Per Åsling has also served on the Riksdag. Nils Åsling died in Stockholm at the age of 89 on 12 August 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asling, Nils G. 1927 births 2017 deaths Members of the Riksdag from the Centre Party (Sweden) Members of the Riksdag 1970–1973 Members of the Riksdag 1974–1976 Members of the Riksdag 1976–1979 Members of the Riksdag 1979–1982 Members of the Riksdag 1982–1985 Members of the Riksdag 1985–1988 Stockholm University alumni 20th-century Swedish businesspeople People from Krokom Municipality