For some time now, we and most other forecasters have been expecting the Swedish economy to slow down. After several years of strong growth, driven in large part by a booming housing market and strong consumer demand, the Swedish economy seems unlikely to sustain 3%+ annual growth in output. Long-term potential growth is more like 2% per year. But so far this year, expectations for a slowdown have proven unfounded. GDP grew strongly in both 1Q and 2Q, with output up 3.3% compared to the middle of 2017. The housing slowdown has yet to make a major impact on growth figures. While new housing construction slowed ... (full story)