Published: Just now
1.25 billion a day or 150 billion in four months. There were probably many who had a drop in blood pressure when the figures on how much the government’s planned high-cost protection for electricity will cost leaked out this week, something that DN was able to tell about.
Add to that tax cuts, dental care reform, reduced tax on ISK and other goodies promised by the new government and the bill already looks pretty juicy.
The problem: just whipping out the credit card like it’s 2020 no longer works. Ask Liz Truss. Ulf Kristersson quickly assured that the government will not drive up inflation with an expansive economic policy.
“It must be accurate in every conceivable way,” he explained to Sydsvenskan.
However, there is one area where it seems to be flat in the carpet that applies regardless of economic situation: the fight against crime. That the area is a high priority is evident from the Tidö Agreement: crime is dealt with on 11 pages compared to four for economic policy.
No, this is not a text about the importance of group-hugging gang criminals and sending them on yoga retreats so they can find their best selves. Although you’d think that’s exactly what’s happening, judging by the price tag.
In 2021, the daily cost in custody was SEK 3,189 and in an institution SEK 3,305, according to the Prison Service. The latter is roughly on par with the price of a single room at the Grand Hotel in Stockholm.
All government spending should be reviewed based on what citizens get for their money.
And as far as the judiciary is concerned, it is about very large amounts.
The government’s criminal policy can can be summed up in two words: tougher. Increased penalties and more prison sentences.
It will cost. Already today, the Correctional Service is undersized. In its latest budget, the authority requests greatly increased allocations over the next few years to 15.7 billion in 2025, an increase of a full 66 percent compared to 2020. The police is another authority that will have more money to move around with, 41.7 billion the authority wants have in 2025.
That would mean an increase of 45 percent since 2020, a faster rearmament than the defense. Add more money to prosecutors and courts and the costs of the justice system could in a few years exceed 70 billion and overtake the Armed Forces. With the current government’s high ambitions, it is not unlikely that it will be even more.
Will this massive investment pay off? We know some things: the method has already been tried. When the previous government took office in 2014, the justice system’s budget was 39 billion, by 2022 it had increased to 62 billion. The police received almost 13 billion or more than 60 percent more money during the S government’s eight years.
Considering this year’s night-black record for the number of fatal shootings, it seems that the billion rain has not paid one hundred percent dividends. According to statistics from BRÅ, crime against both persons and property is higher today than in 2014, despite a certain decline in recent years. And the proportion of the population who are worried about crime in society has increased sharply during the same time, from 28 percent to 46 percent.
What does that mean, then? that even more billions will lead to a different result? Quite a bit, if the research is to be believed. In a series of reports from the Correctional Service last year, it was found that harsher punishments have no major effect on crime.
What is the alternative? In the United States, which has more people in prison per capita than any other country but still has major problems with crime, politicians have recently turned their eyes to Sweden, specifically Malmö.
In the Nydala area, the organization Helamalmö has succeeded in reducing crime and increasing security in a short time. Not thanks to more blue light, but by building a library, gym, youth reception and opening a department for Malmö University. In short, invested in social infrastructure. You get quite a lot of that for the more than SEK 35 billion that the Police and the Correctional Service will have received in increased resources between 2014 and 2025.
Or as Helamalmö’s business manager Nicolas Lunabba has put it: “We have to think beyond the baton’s reach. “
Economic policy rests on two legs – one economic and one political, that is, ideological. If there is anything the Lis Truss fiasco can teach Sweden, it is that when ideology is allowed to take over completely, it can be very expensive. And not just in terms of money.