Here’s How the Parties’ Election Promises Add Up

An extra 10,000 kronor in teacher salaries, the abolition of the qualifying-day deduction, free dental care for young people and free preschool and after-school care. As Sweden’s election campaign enters its final stretch, promises of more money in voters’ pockets are arriving thick and fast.

What remains less clear is how the pledges would be paid for. The Dutch have a way of forcing parties to spell that out. They can submit their election promises to the Centraal Planbureau, an independent government analysis agency that sits somewhere between Sweden’s Fiscal Policy Council and National Institute of Economic Research.

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You Swedes are welcome to learn from us.

The agency calculates how proposals are expected to affect public finances, government debt and the number of hours people work. It also examines whether the promises would be funded through spending cuts, higher taxes or new borrowing that shifts the burden to future generations.

“The system was created in the mid-1980s on the initiative of the three largest parties at the time. Since then, we have offered it as a service. Participation is voluntary, and most parties choose to take part,” said Bert Smid, a macroeconomist at the Centraal Planbureau.

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The system was created in the mid-1980s on the initiative of the three largest parties at the time. Since then, we have offered it as a service. Participation is voluntary, and most parties choose to take part.

The process requires parties to turn broad slogans into concrete proposals. A promise of lower rents, reduced taxes or more money for families is not enough. If a party wants to invest more in education, analysts ask what exactly it will do, what it will cost and how it will be financed. Three months before election day, parties submit spreadsheets detailing their projected spending and revenue. The data is published a few weeks before voters go to the polls.

Belgium recently made this type of review mandatory. In the Netherlands, it remains voluntary. Six of the 10 parties that took part before last year’s election submitted proposals that would have sharply increased public spending. “You Swedes are welcome to learn from us,” Smid said.

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If a party says that it wants to invest more in education, we ask it to present concrete proposals. What exactly does it want to do, what will it cost and how will it finance it? Is it secondary school, primary school or university? We need an amount.