Sweden is doing exactly what Trump threatened to do—keep the economy, restaurants, and bars open. Yet they have all the things we don't have: centrist leaders, reliance on experts & strong public health system. Which challenges the "Trump caused the disastrous US response" thesis

As #Sweden continues to refuse lockdown, its deaths per million is skyrocketing, far exceeding the US as well as its neighbors. Compare to Finland and Norway, for example

Be careful what you wish for: I hear Americans longing for a more centralized response to COVID. Sweden has that. The problem with centralized top-down approaches, though, is they're only good if they're good. If you have a *bad* centralized response, the whole country suffers

It's worth noting that #Sweden's system is *more* technocratic than even other European countries. Elected governments give considerable leeway to health authorities to do what's best according to expert assessment. But "expertise" doesn't necessarily lead to better outcomes

Part of #Sweden's justification for their lax approach is their high social trust. But this isn't entirely true. We recently published a @BrookingsFP paper by @LeeTomson on the rise of right-wing populism and "alternative media" in Sweden. Read: https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-rise-of-sweden-democrats-and-the-end-of-swedish-exceptionalism/

We're not the only ones with a self-conception of "exceptionalism" (our exceptionalism isn't exceptional). There's Swedish exceptionalism too. I don't generally have a problem with the perpetuation of national myths. Sometimes myths are good. But sometimes myths aren't.