This week’s most important piece of data for the British economy will be published not in London, but 890 miles away in Stockholm.
Sweden rejected lockdown when Covid-19 arrived, keeping open schools, most shops, offices and factories with what was billed as a “commonsense” approach.
Evidence has been building that the country’s economy sustained less damage at the height of the pandemic and is recovering more swiftly than Britain and elsewhere in Europe.
This Wednesday, when the first estimate of Sweden’s gross domestic product for April-June is announced, we will find out whether the gamble worked — and, by implication, whether the strict lockdown in Britain may have caused needless damage to businesses, jobs and the public finances.
If Sweden’s second-quarter number is significantly stronger
