Lunch price in Stockholm

A survey reveals the average price for lunch (main dish, side salad, and coffee) in Stockholm is 76.9 kronor (8.2 euro, 10.2 US dollars, 6.7 UK pounds, 880 yen). My impression is that this is the minimum price for lunch.

Göran Lindberg and Sweden's dark side, by The Observer

A friend of mine living in UK told me about this article on Sweden by The Observer, a Sunday newspaper. It's a long article, but worth reading if you wonder what Sweden is like.

"Normalization" of Sweden

The general election is approaching in Sweden, and the incumbent government ministers are proposing what I would call "normalization" of Swedish society, presumably with an aim to win votes in the election reported to become quite close a race.

Two days ago, the minister in charge of immigrants' integration to society proposed to allow low wage jobs for refugees, by saying, "There is a difference between a well paid job and one that is poorly paid. However, the difference between having and not having a job is much greater."

Yesterday, the education minister proposes to allow smart students to take advanced classes in high school rather than to wait their fellow pupils to catch up, by referring the current Swedish education system as following the Jante Law, the key word to understand the Scandinavian societies.


For someone living in most other countries, it's hard to understand why these two policies are just proposals rather than the reality. But that's Sweden, cherishing the equality of its citizens more than anything else.

This is so true...

Source: XKCD

I often visit the website for a university to learn how to get there. It usually takes at least 5 minutes to obtain that piece of information...

HT: Chris Blattman

Jante Law

1. Don't think that you are special.
2. Don't think that you are of the same standing as others.
3. Don't think that you are smarter than others.
4. Don't fancy yourself as being better than others.
5. Don't think that you know more than others.
6. Don't think that you are more important than others.
7. Don't think that you are good at anything.
8. Don't laugh at others.
9. Don't think that any one of us cares about you.
10. Don't think that you can teach others anything.

HT: Andaje