Critics of Gov. Jon Corzine often accuse him of trying to turn New Jersey into a Swedish-style socialist state. Even a moment's reflection shows this is not quite accurate.
When one thinks of loyal party members being paid overtime to charge their phones, for example, the comparison that comes to mind is not modern Sweden but the old Soviet Union. The same is true of the tens of millions spent on schools that were never built, the no-show jobs in Trenton and so on.
As for the Swedes, I've long suspected that they have been unjustly maligned by the comparison to the Corzine crowd. Earlier this week, I got a chance to test out that theory.
A Swedish journalist, Eskil Fagerstrom, was visiting The Star-Ledger offices to learn about American journalism. I thought that I, in turn, could learn from him a bit about Swedish government. So I spent an afternoon with him. I decided I'd give this Swede a look at a real slice of Americana. I figured we'd go to one of those coming-together spots where people of all races, religions and creeds unite. So we got in the car and headed for IKEA.
On the way, we compared Sweden to New Jersey, which has almost the same number of people. It turns out that unlike us Jerseyans, the Swedes get a lot in return for their tax money: Free medical care, free university education, five weeks' annual vacation and so on. In return for all that, the Swedes pay a high level of taxes, Eskil said, but most feel they are getting a good return on their money.
The government takes about 45 percent of his paycheck, Eskil told me. At first, that sounds like a lot. But then I started adding up all the different taxes I pay to stay planted in the Garden State. And when I told Eskil about the $23,000 property tax bill one Star-Ledger editor pays on an average home in Montclair, the look on his face was every bit as grim as if he'd just come out of an Ingmar Bergman movie.
And when I told him that public employees in New Jersey can retire at 55, he was again surprised. In Sweden, public workers have to work till 65, just like the people who pay their salaries, he said.
We got to IKEA and headed into its blue vastness, passing the food stand.
"I've always wondered," I said. "Do they have Swedish meatballs in Sweden?"
"Oh, yeah," he replied. "It's sort of mandatory."
As we walked though endless rows of coffee tables named after small towns up by the Arctic Circle, Eskil warmed to the subject of IKEA. It's a real Swedish success story. He told me how the chain was founded by a guy named Ingvar Kamprad, now 82, who started out as a young boy riding around on a bicycle selling things to his neighbors.
"Where does he get all this furniture from?" I asked Eskil.
"I think his children are helping him a lot putting all this together," he replied.
Actually, what Kamprad put together is an amazingly efficient marketing system. Eskil pointed out how most of the smaller items are marketed straight off the wooden pallets on which they are shipped. There's no labor cost for stocking or shelving.
And when it comes to labor costs, Kamprad had another brilliant idea. Other businessmen try to keep their labor costs down by having the Chinese assemble their products at low cost. But Kamprad has managed to get Americans to put his products together for free. And they seem happy to do so, even though the directions contain such advice as "For this step, it is good to be two people."
As we toured the store, I was filled with admiration for the Nordic efficiency of the whole scheme. And the same holds true for cars. Not too long ago, New Jersey had three auto plants. Now we've got zero. Meanwhile, the Swedes continue to sell Saabs and Volvos to New Jersey residents who are glad to get them.
In the area of education, the Swedes are also ahead. Eskil was amazed to hear about our urban schools with per-pupil costs of $20,000 a year. He was even more amazed that many of those schools are so bad that many parents in those towns pay tuition for their kids to go to private schools. That wouldn't happen in Sweden. Sweden has school vouchers. In Sweden, the purpose of education is to benefit the public. Here in New Jersey, the purpose of education is to benefit the public employees.
The same holds true for every other "service" provided by our government. Sweden has socialism for everyone. New Jersey has socialism for public employees. The rest of us get the bill. That's the real comparison, and New Jersey does not come out on top.