In calmer times, Stockholm would not be an obvious destination for economic policymakers hoping to improve their understanding of the financial system. The capital of a small economy on the fringes of Europe typically spends most of its time responding to events whose origins lie elsewhere. 

Yet in the past year growing numbers of eminent visitors have passed through the revolving doors of the imposing black granite block on the Brunkebergstorg that houses the Riksbank, Sweden’s central bank. Their mission: to learn whether Sweden’s response to the crisis that rocked its financial system in 1992 can offer lessons for dealing with the current global meltdown.

…Dag Detter, who oversaw all of Sweden’s state-owned enterprises in the mid-1990s, says it is crucial that such companies are run with commercial objectives, are insulated from political interference and are transparent in their actions in order to maintain the trust of the public and the markets. “If any of these three principles is ignored, taxpayers will suffer along with the commercial assets in state ownership.”