The example of “Sweden” is constantly used as a rhetorical weapon against Hayek’s work, usually by folk who know close to nothing about Sweden and the evolution of its social / economic system. (And usually next to nothing about Hayek’s work, either.)
reason.tv has an interview with Swedish economist Andreas Bergh, author of The Capitalist Welfare State, which shines light on a topic dominated by “pulled out of a hat” rhetoric.
ht Arnold Kling.
Also, a new paper from the NBER outlining how the perceived difference between social welfare expenditures in the Nordic countries and the United States is largely based only on the structure of that spending, rather than the actual amount. In reality, the US falls behind only Sweden (and even then, not by much) and ahead of the other Nordic countries, once these differences are accounted for.
The paper, by Price V. Fisherback, can be found here: http://www.nber.org/papers/w15982
Thanks for the link, Eric