Swedish social democrats paired full employment with price stability to win business support

Evidence

Reelected in 1932, the SAP eschewed austerity this time around in favor of policies that would give “the state … a totally different role than it had before in order to stabilize employment on a high level.” The new SAP government proposed ninety-three million Swedish crowns in spending on public works. Crucially, however, rather than focus exclusively on policies that benefit labor alone, the government took the stability of the price level as the coequal policy goal alongside full employment, all the while resisting trade protectionism despite the collapse of the gold standard. — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 521

Categorization

• ADDENDUM: The balancing of price stability against full employment offers a counterexample to the either/or framing of austerity versus stimulus.