- I think it is incredibly important for the long-term legitimacy of politics that politicians really explain what is happening, says Lars Calmfors, professor of economics.

He is very critical that the government and politicians otherwise use the term "reform space" to explain how much money the state can afford to spend on various reforms. The concept can easily make citizens believe that the money has been raised without anyone having to pay for it at the other end. In fact, a large part of the annual reform space arises from the fact that contributions to municipalities and households are not written up at the same rate as the rest of the economy is growing.

- Tax revenue grows with income in society, but it does not spend in the public sector in the same way. This contributes to the fact that when wages increase, the contributions do not depend, says Lars Calmfors.

Municipalities are affected

Municipalities are also affected by the fact that the grants remain at a fixed level. This is stated by Markus Sigonius, expert on public finances at the National Institute of Economic Research.

- If one were to grant government grants to the municipalities so that they could finance as much of the municipalities' expenditure as today, it would need almost ten billion annually, says Markus Sigonius.

He also says that if the contributions to households, in the form of, in particular, unemployment benefit, sickness benefit, guarantee pensions, and assistance payments would increase as much as wages in society in general, the state would have to postpone to about SEK 5 billion.

The voters are fooled

From time to time, different governments compensate households and municipalities for eroded grants. Then you often call it a venture and push for extra billions in different ways. Lars Calmfors believes that voters perceive this as just a bet without telling the other side of the coin.

- At regular intervals you can restore various contributions in relation to wages, but then you are back to box one, and so you call it a bet, and can collect political points on it. It is even possible that you can have an ongoing deterioration and then you counter it a bit grand and still call it a bet, says Lars Calmfors.