Sweden, 1814–1916: First Banking Act in the Nordics

Abstract

By 1814 Sweden was but a shadow of its former self. Finland had been lost, and Norway did not become a Swedish province as Finland had been (cfr. Chapter 5). The quintessence of Sweden’s financial condition was that its currency and government finances were close to dust – like in Denmark in those years. Yet, after half a century of slow growth Sweden managed, between roughly 1880 and 1915, to achieve a remarkable pace of growth and industrialization, which brought the standard of living in Sweden up to a level close to that of Germany, France, and Denmark.