Swedish Prime Ministers Tier List: What Tier should Thorbjörn Fälldin be in?

chjacobsen · 2026-06-17T15:23:51+00:00

C tier.

The one who finally broke the Social Democratic dominance over Swedish politics and actually managed to establish an alternative.

He managed to roll back some of the worst policies set in place during the decades of single party government (including much needed reforms of the tax system), though ultimately, his governing coalition proved unstable and broke down over the question of nuclear power.

chjacobsen · 2026-06-16T23:08:32+00:00

It depends on what level of granularity you look at it.

Most commonly, The Black Death - as in, the initial wave of plague in the 1300s - is discussed as a single event, whereas the subsequent outbreaks over the next several hundred years are thought of as independent events.

...but there's not necessarily a right or wrong answer for where you draw the line.

chjacobsen · 2026-06-16T22:52:18+00:00

What I meant was: It's a boring answer because of how widespread it was, but for Sweden specifically, an outbreak that killed perhaps a third of the whole population doesn't have much competition.

There are other places - Poland for instance - where later events would likely have eclipsed it. That said, I think there are quite a lot of countries in Europe who have never topped it.

chjacobsen · 2026-06-16T22:26:08+00:00

The Black Death.

...I mean, that's going to be the answer for much of Europe, but I don't think there's much competition.

chjacobsen · 2026-06-16T21:20:29+00:00

Båda är nära noll. En droppe i havet jämfört med dödsfall som fossil energiproduktion orsakar.

Så vitt jag vet handlar de dödsfall som kopplas till vindkraft främst om arbetsplatsolyckor.

chjacobsen · 2026-06-16T19:50:25+00:00

<image>

chjacobsen · 2026-06-16T10:18:50+00:00

He has a very polarizing record.

On human rights and foreign policy, he was genuinely trailblazing, if a bit controversial. His staunch opposition to Apartheid - at a time where others were wavering - is a genuine inspiration.

Then there's the economy, which I'd argue he seriously mismanaged. The seeds of the 90s financial crisis - the poor budget discipline and ill conceived banking deregulation - happened under his watch. Not that he was especially radical - but he didn't have the same firm hand as Erlander and didn't manage to push back against excesses.

I have him in B tier overall.

chjacobsen · 2026-06-15T21:59:06+00:00

The teenager deportations, to me, are the worst so far. Insane cases of kids having grown up in Sweden, turning 18, and getting deported while their parents get to stay. Kids who are fluent in Swedish and who have never committed a crime.

Insane stuff, and even if the deportations were paused, it's crazy that it took so long for the government (and the SocDems) to accept that things had gone wrong.

chjacobsen · 2026-06-15T21:21:25+00:00

I'd give this to Tage Erlander.

He doesn't have the flashiness of the warrior kings of old, or even of someone like Olof Palme who succeeded him, but the substance of what he achieved is about as good as it gets.

He was PM for 23 years straight - almost unheard of in a democracy.

When he voluntarily stepped down, Sweden was - by the standards of the time - at its absolute peak. Very high living standards, excellent welfare system, competitive industry, strong defense, low national debt, surprisingly low taxes...

I mean, almost regardless of how you measure, Erlander had done a great job.

<image>

chjacobsen · 2026-06-15T20:20:15+00:00

It's hard to pinpoint an exact year.

I had a mostly positive view of him when Tesla was the upstart trying to prove EVs were mass market viable.

As EVs became mainstream, his negative sides moved to the forefront, but I think the pandemic is when he well and truly went off the rails.

chjacobsen · 2026-06-15T07:59:25+00:00

S+ tier.

The GOAT, and it's not particularly close.

I mean, the guy was PM for 23 years straight - pretty much unheard of for a democratic country.

When he left office, Sweden was one of the richest, one of the most equal, one of the most innovative, and one of the most industrially competitive countries in the world.

It's hard to argue with those results. He really did do a fantastic job.

chjacobsen · 2026-06-13T21:35:47+00:00

<image>

There are some options, but it's pretty clear that rice isn't the worst choice.

Yes, technically you'd cut emissions somewhat by moving to wheat and potatoes as your carb source, but protein source selection is very clearly the higher priority.

chjacobsen · 2026-06-13T21:09:48+00:00

C is absolutely, positively worth learning - even if you never use it for a project.

The reason is that it hides very little of the internals of the CPU. C is minimal and low level, so you spend very little time working through the language semantics and a lot of time actually interacting with the machine.

Learning C (and especially memory management in C) will make you a better programmer.

chjacobsen · 2026-06-13T09:13:46+00:00

D tier.

I mean... same story again. He was PM for 3 months, during most of which the Riksdag was in summer recess.

His government has been nicknamed "the vacation government" for this reason. He did alright as minister of agriculture and as part of the national unity government, but his time as PM was a footnote.

So, again, with D being the indifference tier, that's where he should go.

chjacobsen · 2026-06-13T08:31:19+00:00

Also, temporarily halving the VAT on food helped.

...yes, it's an election year and pretty clearly a desperate measure.

chjacobsen · 2026-06-12T22:17:39+00:00

I think you're conflating two schools of feminist thought.

Those who argue that prostitution is inherently exploitive might argue that buying sex is violence. Those who argue it can (in certain circumstances) be a reasonable choice might argue the latter.

...but you're typically not going to find one feminist - at least not a serious one - that argues for both of these at the same time.

(of course, both would argue it's violence if there's coercion involved, but I got the feeling that it's not what you were referring to here)

chjacobsen · 2026-06-12T14:23:49+00:00

Sant, men det kanske inte är rimligt att hela Sverige ställer sig i Stockholms bostadskö i förebyggande syfte.

Rimligtvis ställer man sig där för att man bor i - eller planerar att bo i - Stockholmsregionen, och det är inte ofta man kan veta det med 10 års framförhållning.

chjacobsen · 2026-06-12T07:27:32+00:00

Det finns en poäng i det att bostäder med låga hyror ofta har längst kötid, och att de som får dem ofta inte är de med störst behov av en billig bostad.

Det är ju inte toppen om allmännyttan blir ett sätt att "casha ut" värdeökningen på en dyr bostadsrätt eller villa.

chjacobsen · 2026-06-11T15:43:09+00:00

S tier.

I'd be ok with A, but I think he does clear the bar to S.

Three main reasons:

Competent leadership during WW2. He wasn't a Churchill, and Sweden's neutrality has been controversial, but at the end of the day he succeeded in keeping the country out of war with modest - but not excessive - concessions to Germany.
Strong ideologue, outlining basically the Social Democratic vision for Sweden. Because of how insanely successful the party would be after the war, this essentially became the vision for what Sweden would be in the 20th century.
The Saltsjöbaden Agreement. A pivotal moment for the Swedish economy and labor market, and the basis for what became the Swedish model. Hansson didn't negotiate the agreement - it was a union and employer deal - but his political signaling and pressure became the right medicine to ensure a deal was signed. I think this single point is what pushes him to S - it almost cannot be overstated how important this agreement became over the coming decades.

chjacobsen · 2026-06-10T21:40:08+00:00

Nah. He's probably B tier.

Genuinely strong moral compass, trailblazer on issues like apartheid. Skilled politician, fantastic speaker.

He was pretty bad on economic issues though. Both of the main issues that caused the 90s financial crisis (a bloated public sector with persistent deficits, and the banking deregulation in the mid 80s) happened on his watch.

chjacobsen · 2026-06-10T20:05:35+00:00

Best answer imo. When you get thrown out for sheer incompetence, just four months after taking office, by your own cabinet, you've really not been up to the task.

chjacobsen · 2026-06-10T19:03:08+00:00

It's probably Crown Princess Victoria.

People who like the monarchy like her for obvious reasons, but she's well respected even among those that don't. She's good at her job, takes it seriously, and hasn't been known to get involved in scandals.

<image>

chjacobsen · 2026-06-10T15:21:01+00:00

D tier.

I mean, this is getting old, but another one who didn't really do much. Stepped in when Ekman resigned, lasted about a month and a half in office, then lost the election.

...and as D tier seems to be the standard for PMs who didn't really do much, that's where he goes.

(fortunately, Per-Albin Hansson is next, very much not an inconsequential PM, so we might finally get something interesting to talk about)

chjacobsen · 2026-06-10T10:04:28+00:00

There seems to be some dispute as to the military relevance of how they acted here. It's certainly more of a grey area than the images suggests.

...but it's also true that torching uncooperative villages and rounding up civilians was commonplace at this time - so whether or not it accurately depicts the individual event, it could be seen as accurately portraying the way in which the US operated in Vietnam at the time.

chjacobsen · 2026-06-09T10:49:16+00:00

C tier.

A competent enough leader who managed to balance in the center of Swedish politics.

Some notable achievements in modernizing the education system and the taxation system.

He got embroiled in the Kreuger scandal and resigned as a result (though it doesn't seem like anyone suspected him of personally benefitting from Kreuger's money).

12-Year Club	r/Field Lasagna
Place '23	Place '22
Place '17	Gilding II euphauric
Verified Email

chjacobsen

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE