Today’s CPI numbers for May came in hotter than expected. Headline inflation rose to 4.2% (from 3.8% in April), while core inflation (excluding food and energy) ticked up to 2.9%.

The main culprit? Surging energy prices — especially gasoline — following the recent geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. Once again, it’s the old story: geopolitics hits the pump, and we all feel it in the wallet.

For the Federal Reserve this is awkward. They were hoping inflation was safely on its way down toward the 2% target. These numbers make that path a lot bumpier. The probability of rate cuts in the near term just took a hit, and the market didn’t like it — both NYSE and Nasdaq are red today.

It feels like we’re stuck in this strange loop. Every time the market starts to calm down and hope for lower rates, something happens that pushes inflation back up. Energy, tariffs, geopolitics — pick your poison.

The inflation dragon isn’t slain yet. It just took a little nap — and now it’s stretching again.

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This is a new post on the new dewlar.me blog.
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I’ve mentioned this before, but I still can’t wrap my head around it.

The more I work and the higher my salary gets, the more tax I have to pay — both in absolute kronor and as a percentage.

Meanwhile, in Sweden, if you commit a crime you always get a reduced sentence. If you’re released pending trial (which is common), any additional crimes you commit during that time are erased, because you’re only convicted for the most serious crime. In practice, you can commit quite a few crimes “for free” as long as they don’t carry a higher penalty.

Criminals know this system very well and take full advantage of it.

So we’ve created two parallel systems: Hard-working, responsible people are punished with higher taxes the more successful they become. Criminals are rewarded with penalty discounts the more they offend.

This is what you get after the Social Democrats have governed Sweden for 82 of the last 100 years: The harder you work and the more responsibility you take — the more you get punished. The more crimes you commit — the more discounts you receive.

Well done, Sweden. Truly a system to be proud of.

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This is a new post on the new dewlar.me blog.
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Traditional media in Australia is not nearly as homogeneously left-leaning as it is here in Sweden. That’s already a big difference. But the real question is: why are they even in this fight with Meta in the first place?

If traditional media had actually done their job — reported news and features objectively, factually, and without obvious bias — there would be far less demand for alternative media. People might still be paying for newspapers and trusting the big outlets.

Instead, Australia passed the News Media Bargaining Code in 2021, forcing Google and Meta to pay Australian news companies for using their journalism. Meta eventually signed some deals, but chose not to renew them in 2024–2025 and started reducing news in the feed. The Australian government responded in 2026 with a new tightening called the News Bargaining Incentive. If Meta and others don’t make new agreements, they now risk a 2.25% tax on their Australian revenue — money that’s supposed to support journalism. Read more about Meta’s strong reaction here

Here’s what fascinates me. If the traditional media had kept their credibility intact, they wouldn’t need governments to force Big Tech to pay them. Supply and demand is one of the simplest concepts in the world — if people actually wanted what you’re selling, you wouldn’t need politicians to twist arms on your behalf.

Instead of fixing their own bias and relevance problem, many outlets are now begging governments to make tech companies subsidize them. Classic case of wanting to eat the cake and keep it too.

Maybe the real solution isn’t more forced payments. Maybe it’s producing journalism so good that people actually choose to pay for it again.

What do you think — is this a fair way to save journalism, or just another example of legacy media avoiding accountability?

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This is a new post on the new dewlar.me blog.
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As a European, it pains me to say this, but I seriously doubt Europe will take any meaningful part in the AI boom.

We love to reminisce about our glory days — Ericsson and Nokia leading the mobile revolution in the 1990s. But those days are long gone. Today, Europe’s biggest “innovation” seems to be a plastic screw cap that still can’t be unscrewed properly.

The uncomfortable truth is this: living on old credentials no longer works. The hunger, the risk-taking spirit, and the forward momentum we once had appear to have disappeared.

If we can’t even solve basic everyday problems without massive bureaucracy and outdated thinking, how are we supposed to compete in the AI era?

The gap with America isn’t just technological. It’s cultural, structural, and growing wider by the day. Even optimistic analysts who believe Europe can catch up on the “next AI wave” seem to be grasping at straws.

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This is a new post on the new dewlar.me blog.
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According to the latest Ekonomifakta/SCB statistics (Feb 2026):

• The top 1% pay ~10–15% of Sweden’s total taxes.
• The top 5% pay 26.1%.
• The bottom 40% pay only 13%.

The Swedish Left wants to raise taxes on “the rich”. There’s just one problem: those in the top 5% are also the ones most likely to leave the country.

Lose even a portion of them, and you blow a multi-billion-kronor hole in the budget.

Suddenly “tax the rich” turns into “tax the rest of us”.

Because let’s be honest — nobody actually wants to pay higher taxes themselves. It’s always “someone else”.

Not even Vänsterpartiet, whose leadership recently tried to lower their own internal party tax.

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This is a new post on the new dewlar.me blog.
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Yesterday, the government announced that they are replacing the chairmen of AP2, AP3 and AP7. This comes after SVT’s revelations about the major losses in Northvolt.

The background is well known: AP1–AP4 circumvented the law prohibiting direct investments in unlisted companies by creating the jointly owned company 4 to 1 Investments. Through this construction, they invested SEK 5.8 billion of Swedish pension savers’ money in Northvolt.

Per Bolund (Green Party), who was Minister for Financial Markets until early 2021, played a central role. He pushed through regulatory changes that enabled the investment and put strong pressure on the AP funds to lead the “green transition”. In the KU hearing in May 2026, Bolund denied exerting direct pressure on the funds regarding Northvolt specifically and placed the full responsibility on the AP funds themselves.

I’m glad the current government is cleaning house by replacing weak chairmen.

What disappoints me is that the architect behind this scheme — Per Bolund — walks away completely unscathed.

The Green Party, which claims to be the party of the environment, has contributed to shutting down six nuclear reactors and now helped lose billions of pension capital on a high-risk green investment.

And Swedish mainstream media continues to let them get away with it.

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This is a new post on the new dewlar.me blog.
You can find the old blog here:https://mrsdewlar.blogspot.com

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The Green Party has held power in Stockholm since 2014, often acting as kingmakers between the political blocs. The result? Cyclists have been elevated to a privileged class in the city.

They are allowed to ride against one-way traffic. Their paths are meticulously cleared and salted all winter, while pedestrians slip and slide on ice just centimeters away. In places like Djurgården and along Årstaviken, they share space with pedestrians and expect everyone else to vanish the moment they ring their bell.

Despite all these privileges, many are still not satisfied. Every single day, cyclists ride on sidewalks, forcing pedestrians to step aside.

This morning at 06:35, yet another cyclist came speeding down the sidewalk. Everyone moved, me included.

But in my mind, I was acting like a total Karen…

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This is a new post on the new dewlar.me blog.
You can find the old blog here:https://mrsdewlar.blogspot.com

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It’s been just over a week since our son completed his final IB exam. Now begins the long wait: first for the results to see if he passed the IB Diploma, then for news on his university applications.

June and the first half of July will basically be one long exercise in patience.

Next week is graduation, so this weekend he was allowed to borrow my parents’ summer house in the archipelago for a party with his friends. They took the ferry out yesterday to plan sleeping arrangements.

On the way back they stopped at a shopping mall for McDonald’s. That’s when our son forgot to put the parking disc in the window and got his first parking ticket — 600 SEK.

Since he got his driver’s license in October, this was his first one. I told him I would pay the first ticket, but from the second onward, it’s on him.

He was visibly relieved.

On the bright side, we have an electric car that charges at home, so at least he doesn’t have to worry about fuel.

I never had to fill up my parents’ car when I was young either… and somehow I still managed to learn financial responsibility.

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This is a new post on the new dewlar.me blog.
You can find the old blog here:https://mrsdewlar.blogspot.com

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After the current conservative government managed to convince even the Swedish socialist opposition that tax cuts can actually increase tax revenue by encouraging people to work and pay taxes, the Left has found a new strategy.

When facts no longer support their narrative, they switch to emotions and class warfare.

Take Nooshi Dadgostar. After previously naming five specific billionaires she claimed had “bought politicians,” she quickly backtracked when pressed. Instead, she now speaks vaguely about “a billionaire class” that is “eating into our democracy.”

This has become the new all-purpose justification: we must raise taxes to stop the evil billionaires from undermining Swedish democracy.

Remarkable, isn’t it? No matter how a discussion with the Swedish Left begins, it always seems to end in the same place — with higher taxes.

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This is a new post on the new dewlar.me blog.
You can find the old blog here:https://mrsdewlar.blogspot.com

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