Thursday, August 21, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

One in five young Swedish women see shopping as a hobby amid rising debt

Published 30 May 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Many young women say they shop "to feel better" - even though they can't really afford it.
2 minute read

Since 2015, Swedes’ total debts to the Swedish Enforcement Authority have increased by 50 percent – and young women account for the largest increase.

According to experts, the accumulation of debt is linked to the fact that as many as 22 percent of young women today consider shopping an important hobby – compared to only five percent of men.

– The figures are remarkably high. There is a problem in that they see it as entertainment, but also as a form of self-medication, says everyday economist Magnus Hjelmér on Swedish public television SVT.

One in five young women shops “to feel better” and one in ten say they “reward” themselves with shopping – even though they are aware that they cannot really afford it.

It is also noteworthy that around 20 percent of young Swedish adults prefer to buy things on credit or invoice rather than paying immediately at the time of purchase. This also causes young women to shop more than they otherwise would, and leads many into debt.

“Gaining happiness by buying things”

– Everyone shops. It’s not really strange. It’s stranger if you don’t have a shopping addiction. There are trends and everyone wants to have everything, so that’s just how it is, says Donja Mollazadeh, who admits that she shops as soon as she gets the chance.

It makes you happy, it’s like a dopamine rush you get inside. You feel good when you get new clothes and nice things, she continues.

Several young women the channel spoke to say they shop to make themselves “happy” or to “calm down” when they are stressed, and that they quickly tire of what they have just bought and want to shop even more.

– It’s about being a bit materialistic, maybe. That you get happiness from buying things, says Matilda Bergqvist.

“Reduce time on social media”

Magnus Hjelmér points out that there are several explanations for this negative trend. One is the rise of online shopping, which, together with easily accessible quick loans and credit, makes it very easy to shop plus, websites are designed so that it takes as few clicks as possible to make a purchase.

Influencers and social media are also singled out as culprits, and Hjelmér notes that huge sums of money are spent on marketing aimed primarily at young girls and women.

– One way to limit your shopping is actually to reduce the amount of time you spend on social media, he says, urging parents not to let their children save up for things they want to buy – and not to buy on credit.

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Record high unemployment among university graduates in Sweden

The destruction of the European economy

Published yesterday 14:01
– By Editorial Staff
Unemployment among Swedish university graduates has increased by 55 percent in just two years.
2 minute read

Over 19,000 university graduates were unemployed in July, the highest figure in two decades. Unemployment among highly educated workers has increased by 55 percent in two years, and nothing suggests the trend will be broken, according to new statistics from Akademikernas a-kassa (the Swedish unemployment insurance fund for university graduates).

A total of 19,231 university graduates were unemployed in July, which is 826 more than the previous month. This is the highest figure in 20 years. Compared to July last year, the number of unemployed university graduates has increased by 17 percent.

— We are used to unemployment rising during the summer, so the increase is not really a surprise, but we are not used to having such high total figures, says Alexandra Oljans Ahlin, communications strategist at Akademikernas (the Swedish Confederation of Professional Associations).

The development has been particularly dramatic over the past two years. Since July 2023, unemployment among university graduates has increased by a full 55 percent – and it is expected to continue rising in the coming years as well.

— Right now we see no signs of a decrease. It will continue to be many people who need this financial security, says Oljans Ahlin.

Of the unemployed university graduates, 13,299 people received compensation from the unemployment insurance fund in July, an increase of almost 1,000 people in one month. An additional 5,932 people received compensation from Försäkringskassan (the Swedish Social Insurance Agency) for participating in labor market policy programs.

More trapped in long-term unemployment

A particularly worrying trend is that more and more university graduates are becoming trapped in long-term unemployment. In July, 5,230 people had been without work for more than a year – an increase of 24 percent compared to July last year. This means that more than every fourth unemployed university graduate is now long-term unemployed.

— Many members we talk to testify that it is difficult and takes a long time to get a new job, and the statistics unfortunately confirm this. Short periods of unemployment are rarely a problem, but when it becomes longer, it gets increasingly tough, she explains.

The rising unemployment is also visible in the unemployment fund’s payouts. In July, Akademikernas a-kassa paid out a total of €26.2 million in compensation, compared to €18.3 million in the same month last year.

The proportion of unemployed among university graduates now stands at 2.4 percent, which is 0.3 percentage points higher than a year ago. Akademikernas a-kassa has nearly 800,000 members in total.

Halted nuclear power sends Swedish electricity prices soaring

The energy crisis in Europe

Published yesterday 9:57
– By Editorial Staff
One-sixth of the electricity consumed in Sweden comes from the three reactors at Forsmark, a nuclear power plant located north of Stockholm.
3 minute read

Electricity prices in southern Sweden are now approaching winter price levels in the middle of summer. With three of six nuclear reactors out of service and calm weather conditions, August is expected to be the year’s second most expensive month for electricity consumers.

Despite low summer consumption, electricity prices in electricity area 4, which covers southern Sweden, have surged to levels normally only seen during the winter months. The average price so far during August stands at 0.63 SEK (€0.056) per kilowatt-hour (kWh) – the highest level since February, according to the Nord Pool electricity exchange.

Forecasts point to even higher prices ahead. According to Bixia’s electricity market analyst Johan Sigvardsson, dry and calm weather conditions are expected to drive prices toward nearly 1 SEK per kWh in southern Sweden during the rest of the month.

“August looks set to become the second most expensive month of the year (so far) after February”, Sigvardsson states in a written comment to the Swedish news agency TT.

Large regional differences

The price differences between the country’s various electricity areas are remarkably large. While southern Sweden struggles with high prices, northern Sweden (electricity areas 1 and 2) remains at extremely low levels – only 0.06-0.07 SEK per kWh on average during August. Central Sweden and northern Götaland (electricity area 3) fall between these extremes at around 0.34 SEK.

Christian Holtz, electricity analyst at consulting firm Merlin&Metis, explains that the extensive nuclear power shutdown is a main cause of the price differences.

— It affects partly because there is less available capacity. And then it often becomes more difficult to handle large transmission of electricity from north to south when you shut down these reactors, says Holtz.

With limited nuclear power production, southern Sweden ends up at practically the same price levels as Germany and the rest of continental Europe. There, prices have been high at times during the summer when French nuclear power was forced to run at reduced capacity due to cooling water that was too warm.

The high temperatures have also led to increased electricity consumption as air conditioning systems have been running at full capacity, according to Christian Holtz.

Worrying parallels to 2022

Another factor that could drive up prices is the declining water levels in Nordic hydropower dams. After a period with levels above normal during spring and early summer, Norwegian water reservoirs now lie clearly below average.

“It’s starting to resemble 2022 when low Norwegian water reservoirs were a strongly contributing cause to the high prices. If it continues to be dry, we will see higher prices this autumn than we’ve become accustomed to in recent years”, warns Johan Sigvardsson.

For consumers, the high exchange prices represent a significant cost. In addition to the actual electricity price, electricity companies’ markups, electricity tax, VAT and grid fees are added, which together amount to well over 1 SEK per kWh.

Sweden has a total of six nuclear reactors: three at Forsmark, two at Ringhals and one at Oskarshamn. Currently, three reactors are shut down: Oskarshamn 3 is out of service until preliminarily September 17, Ringhals 4 is undergoing annual revision until September 14, and Forsmark 1 is stopped due to damaged piping with preliminary restart on August 24.

Bitcoin hits new record – market value surpasses Google

Alternative economic systems

Published 14 August 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Bitcoin now represents the fifth largest asset in the world.
1 minute read

The cryptocurrency bitcoin reached a historic peak of over $124,000 during Wednesday evening and now has a market value that exceeds tech giant Google’s. This makes bitcoin the fifth largest asset in the world.

Bitcoin surpassed its previous record level on August 13 when the price rose to $124,025 per unit on the Bitstamp trading platform. The new peak exceeded the previous record of $123,236 that was set just over a month ago, on July 14, writes Bitcoin.com.

The digital currency now has a total market value of $2.458 trillion and traded for nearly $59 billion globally during the past 24 hours. The largest exchanges for bitcoin trading are Binance, Bybit, Coinbase, Upbit and OKX.

Strong technical signals drive the surge

Market indicators point to continued strength for bitcoin. Both strength indices, momentum and key technical indicators signal positive development. The moving averages are also in positive territory.

At Wednesday’s close, bitcoin remained around $124,016 and dominates 58.8 percent of the total cryptocurrency market, which is now valued at $4.16 trillion. Ethereum and other alternative digital currencies have also risen sharply, with ethereum now accounting for 13.7 percent of the market’s total dominance.

Nvidia and AMD to pay 15 percent of China revenues to US

Donald Trump's USA

Published 13 August 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Lisa Su, CEO of AMD, holds up an AMD Zen 5 chip during the presentation of next-generation processors at Computex 2024 in Taipei, Taiwan.
2 minute read

American semiconductor manufacturers Nvidia and AMD have agreed to pay 15 percent of their revenues from chip sales in China to the US government. The arrangement is the condition for obtaining export licenses under President Donald Trump’s administration.

According to sources familiar with the situation, including a US government official, both companies approved the financial arrangement to obtain export licenses for the Chinese market, which were granted last week.

The American official stated that Nvidia agreed to share 15 percent of revenues from H20 chip sales in China, while AMD will provide the same percentage from MI308 chip revenues. The Trump administration has not yet decided how the money will be used, reports Financial Times.

Never seen before

According to export control experts, this is the first time ever that an American company has agreed to pay a portion of its revenues to obtain export licenses. However, the arrangement fits into a pattern under the Trump administration where the president urges companies to take actions, such as domestic investments, to avoid tariffs.

The Commerce Department began issuing H20 export licenses on Friday, two days after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang met with President Trump. The administration has also begun issuing licenses for AMD’s chips to China.

Nvidia did not deny the arrangement and said: “We follow rules the US government sets for our participation in worldwide markets”. AMD commented: “Our initial licence applications have been approved” and added that the company “adhere to all US export control laws and policies”.

Criticism from security experts

The decision to sell the chips to China has drawn criticism from American security experts who argue that the H20 chip will help the Chinese military and undermine US strength in artificial intelligence.

— Beijing must be gloating to see Washington turn export licences into revenue streams, says Liza Tobin, a China expert who served on the National Security Council during Trump’s first administration.

In a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Matt Pottinger, former deputy national security advisor, and 19 other security experts warned against granting H20 licenses. They called the H20 a “potent accelerator of China’s frontier AI capabilities”.

Nvidia dismissed the criticism as “misdirected” and rejected that China could use the H20 for military purposes.

The debate comes as the US and China hold trade talks that Trump hopes will pave the way for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

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