As a Swede that's seen the change of the country growing up I couldn't stand this propagandic piece of nonsense. This article is clearly a right-wing view on what makes a country prosper.
Crime is up mainly because economic differences are bigger now than ever before in my lifetime. My children are going to grow up in a country fixated on doing budget cuts in the government spending. Sick people are no-longer supported by the government and cancer patients are being forced to look for work. Sweden haven't had this many homeless people for decades. This is not a society with moral standards anymore.
You are right that crimes are up*, and theft seems to be one category that has increased[2]. Don't know whether it's because of economic differences though.
That sick people aren't supported by the government and that cancer patients are being forced to look for work is a bit of an exaggeration.
Also, I'd say the main point of the article isn't that Sweden is heaven. Rather, it's trying to highlight some things that has worked well in Sweden (and other Nordic countries), but the article also points out quite a few bad things.
Sweden has many challenges ahead, and some things are worse nowadays compared to 20-30 years ago. Increased crime is certainly one of them. But, there are also things that have improved considerably, our debt is lower now than it used to be, we can still afford a public -- which I'm dearly happy for.
I'd say the article is fairly balanced, but I'd prefer a more critical view on the privatisation of the public sector. Some things have turned out well, but many haven't. There is a Swedish expression for naive, 'blue eyed' -- that word sums up many of our recent privatisations.
"Don't know whether it's because of economic differences though."
Correlation may not imply causation, but it's a pretty good hint at the directions in which you might want to look before you eliminate them as causes. Disparity does seem to associate closely with a lot of social issues, including property crime—closely enough that it's probably unwise to ignore it.
Crime is up mainly because economic differences are bigger now than ever before in my lifetime. My children are going to grow up in a country fixated on doing budget cuts in the government spending. Sick people are no-longer supported by the government and cancer patients are being forced to look for work. Sweden haven't had this many homeless people for decades. This is not a society with moral standards anymore.
Clearly skewed article.