English

The Bertil Ohlin Institute

The purpose of the Bertil Ohlin Institute is to initiate research and debate in critical areas of public policy in the tradition of liberal thinking. The institute is namned after Bertil Ohlin, who was leader of the Liberal party of Sweden (Folkpartiet) between 1944 and 1967. In 1977 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics thus combining a successful career as a political leader and as an eminent scholar.

 

Postal address

The Bertil Ohlin Institute

c/o Digital Ekonomi
Box 6188
102 33 Stockholm

Chairwoman of the board

Åsa Malmström

E-mail: asa.malmstrom@ohlininstitutet.se

 

 

A liberal think tank

By building networks of scholars, participants in the public debate and persons from private and public working life the institute – as a think tank – contributes to broadening the basis for liberal opinion formation and renewal of liberal thinking.

Independent

The institute is independent of political parties and interest groups, organizationally as well as financially. Its activities are financed through private and corporate contributions as well as project grants from foundations.

International cooperation

The institute seeks international cooperation in order to better approach policy issues of importance for our time. The institute is member of ELF – European Liberal Forum – and is active in the international network of liberal think tanks

Grounded in research

The institute projects should be applied and practically oriented. They should build on scientific approaches which implies close contact with high quality university departments. Four out of the nine chairs of the board are reserved for scholars, mainly in the social fields.

Organisation

The Institute is a foundation, Stiftelsen Bertil Ohlin-Institutet, founded in 1993.

 

Reports and essays

Separation of Church and State in Europe
With views on Sweden, Norway, The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Slovenia and Greece

Fleur de Beaufort, Ingemund Hägg, Patrick van Schie
Published in 2008

From the cover of the book:

During the nineteenth century and early twentieth century, the separation och state and church was an issue of great importance for liberal politicians and parties in European politics. Liberals all over Europe tried to encourage the separation of religious institutions and the state.After the second World War this issue seemed to become more and more irrelevant, as the separation was more or less achieved in some countries, or the existing ties did not lead to major troubles or inequalities. Recently the matter has become relevant again, because of questions raised by integration of imigrants with different ethnical, religious and cultural background. The separation of church and state developed, due to historical, cultural social and political reasons, in very different ways in each of the member states of the European Union […]

The purpose of the book is to provide evidence and ideas that could be used in the different countries in Europe for reforms clarifying the roles of religious organisations in relation to the state. This is of utmost importance now that Europe is becoming more multi-religious, multi-ethnic and muliticultural […]

For information on how to get a copy of the book and other inquiries, please contact Ingemund Hägg via e-mail: ingemund.hagg@fek.uu.se

The following lectures can be downloaded in English.

The 2003 Anne Wibble lecture by Sir David Steel
The importance and problems of political leadership

The 2006 Bertil Ohlin lecture by Martin Wolf
Why Globalisation Works

The following reports are available in print. Please contact us to receive a copy.

The individual and labour markets
Time to grow. Liberal tasks for the new century
The state, human beings and markets
Sweden and the new Europe
EMU and the Swedish choice
Farewell to neutrality? Sweden, the European Union and the new NATO