The economic development of Sweden compared to four EMS/EMU countries during 1985-2014 with focus on pros and cons of EMU

Sammanfattning: Sweden has been a "stand-alone" case since 1992 when the krona was set on a free float. The primary aim of this thesis is to compare the economic development of Sweden during 1985-2014 to the core EMU countries of Germany and France and the periphery countries of Italy and Spain. Eleven main economic indicators have been studied for each of the five countries which have been studied. The results show that Sweden has had a better economic development regarding most of the economic indicators both during 1985-2014 and after 2008. The relatively good economic development of Sweden was based on political reforms carried out after a financial crisis in the early 1990s, basically caused by deregulation of the credit market. The present high total debt, including public debt, private debt and company debt, in combination with excessive valuation of homes and stagnating productivity bears likeness to the 1990s and could have a negative influence non the future competitiveness of Sweden. The second aim of the thesis is to state the pros and cons of EMU based on a thorough review of previous and recent research. The review shows that from a strictly economic point of view the cons are in excess of the pros. It seems obvious that EU as well as EMU are basically political projects with the aim to preserve peace in Europé within "an ever closer unon".