Nima Sanandaji

Nima Sanandaji

Nima Sanandaji in 2013
Born (1981-06-30) June 30, 1981
Tehran, Iran
Nationality Swedish
Alma mater Royal Institute of Technology
Occupation Author, scientist
Notable work Scandinavian Unexceptionalism

Nima Sanandaji (born June 30, 1981 in Iran) is a Swedish author of Kurdish origin.[1][2] He has published several books on policy issues such as women’s career opportunities, integration, entrepreneurship and reforms which encourage innovation in the provision of public services.[3][4][5][6]

Nima is a research fellow at the Centre for Policy Studies,[7] and at the Centre for the market reform of education,[8] both in London, UK. He is a cofounder of the Stockholm-based think tank Captus, which he led as CEO for several years until 2011.[9] Nima has conducted research at Chalmers University of Technology, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) and Cambridge University, and holds a PhD from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.[2][10]

Education

Nima Sanandaji was born to middle-class ethnic Kurdish parents in Tehran. His parents came to Sweden from Iran in 1984. Sanandaji was raised in and lives in Stockholm. He has conducted research in structural biochemistry at Cambridge University and has a degree in biotechnology from Chalmers University of Technology. He has a PhD from the Royal Institute of Technology in polymer engineering. Nima has previously been chairman of the Free Moderate Student League and the Swedish-American Association, both based in Gothenburg.[2]

Authorship

Sanandaji was one of the authors of the Timbro report "Welcome to Sweden! On political bias in the SFI literature, Swedish for immigrants" which criticized the SFI training of having a politicized message in favor of the Social Democrats.[11][12] He has published more than 20 books, mostly in Swedish, on policy issues such as women’s career opportunities, integration, entrepreneurship and reforms which encourage innovation in the provision of public services.[3][4][5][6]

Nimas first English book is Renaissance for Reforms, written together with Professor Stefan Fölster. The book was published in 2014 through a co-operation with Swedish think tank Timbro and UK based think tanks Institute of Economic Affairs. Through and analysis of modern democracies since the mid 1990s, the authors question the idea that reformist governments are seldom re-elected. Rather, they show that those governments that have introduced market reforms have been on average more likely to win re-election. The book has gained the attention of media and think-tanks in a number of countries, including Sweden,[13] Austria,[14][15] Norway,[16] the UK,[17][18] and Bulgaria.[19]

In 2014 Nima published the book "SuperEntrepreneurs" co-authored with his brother Tino Sanandaji, an economist. The book looks the background of the more than a thousand individuals around the world who have amassed more than $1 billion through entrepreneurship, examining which conditions foster entrerpeneurship. On its release SuperEntrepreneurs gained massive international attention. It was the front page story of the Daily Telegraph[20] and independently also reported by the Times,[21] the Daily Mail,[22] and NBC News.[23] A range of international media followed up on these initial reports.[24]

NBC quoted SuperEntrepreneurs by stating: "The results indicate the American Dream – the notion that it is possible for individuals to rise to the top through effort, luck and genius – is not yet dead. Self-made billionaire entrepreneurs have created millions of jobs, billions of dollars in private wealth and probably trillions of dollars of value for society".[23]

Richard Branson, the entrepreneur who has founded Virgin, criticized SuperEntrepreneurs for not having emphasis on the need for public support of entrepreneurs. Branson wrote on his blog: "I am a big believer in the power of entrepreneurship as a key driver of economic growth, job creation and innovation. However, if we want more successful entrepreneurs, they need to be supported with long-term thinking and creative support structures."[25]

Nima has written numerous reports for organizations such as the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, the Swedish Taxpayers' Association, Företagarna, Vinnova and the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce.[2]

Scandinavian Unexceptionalism

In his book Scandinavian Unexceptionalism, Nima Sanandaji promotes the idea that unique norms and free markets can explain the economic and social success of Scandinavia rather than large welfare states. In June 2015, The book was published by the British think tank Institute of Economic Affairs,[1] and was also released in Stockholm in co-operation with think tank Timbro.[26] The foreword is written by US libertarian author Tom Palmer.

In the book, Sanandaji argues that particularly the left has long praised Scandinavian countries for their high levels of welfare provision and admirable societal outcomes. Although true that Scandinavian countries are successful, the author makes the case that this success pre-dates the welfare state. According to Sanandaji Scandinavians became successful by combining a culture with strong emphasis on individual responsibility with economic freedom. This can also explain why Scandinavian Americans, who live outside Nordic welfare states, have low levels of poverty and high levels of prosperity.[27]

In public

Sanandaji is a frequent visitor to Almedalen Week. In 2008, Expressen newspaper selected Nima as the third most important speaker in Almedalen Week. The Swedish economic magazine Dagens Industri ranked him third out of Sweden's 101 super talents.[2]

References

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 "Scandinavian success is not due to high taxes and welfare spending". IEA. Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA). 23 Jun 2015. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 sv:Nima Sanandaji
  3. 1 2 "Nima Sanandaji Books". Bokus. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  4. 1 2 "Scandinavian Unexceptionalism: Culture, Markets and the Failure of Third-Way Socialism (Readings in Political Economy)". Amazon.com. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  5. 1 2 "Renaissance for Reforms". Timbro. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  6. 1 2 "Nima Sanandaji". Adlibris. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Academic Council and Fellows". Center for the Study of Market Reform Education. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Nima Sanandaji: Academic and author of books on Swedish policy issues". CAPX. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Omorganisation". Captus. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  10. ↑ Sanandaji, Nima (2013). "Different paths to explore confined crystallisation of PCL". Digitala Vetenskapliga Arkivet (DiVA). Royal Institute of Technology. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  11. ↑ Ingvar Hedlund; Mats Pettersson (27 March 2006). "Så ser Sverige ut – i skolböckerna. Invandrare lär sig läsa svenska med s-propaganda". Expressen. p. 24.
  12. ↑ Sanandaji, Nima (12 September 2007). "Förmedla kunskap – inte vänsterreklam". SVT. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  13. ↑ Fölster, Stefan; Sanandaji, Nima (18 February 2014). "Reformfega regeringar blir sällan återvalda". DN.se. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  14. ↑ Bertoletti, Luca (22 September 2014). "A must-read book for European politicians". Austrian Economics. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  15. ↑ Mayrbäurl, Cornelia (18 August 2014). "Ein praktischer Ratgeber für Reformwillige". Agenda Austria. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  16. ↑ Doksheim, Marius (31 March 2014). "Reformer som vinner valg". MinervaNett. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  17. ↑ "Book Launch: Renaissance for Reforms". Institute of Economic Affairs. 13 March 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  18. ↑ Sanandaji, Nima (21 March 2014). "Nima Sanandaji and Stefan Folster: Why left wing governments which pursue free market reforms get re-elected". Conservative Home. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  19. ↑ "ИКОНОМИЧЕСКА ПОЛИТИКА". Икономическа Библиотека на ИПИ и БМА. 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  20. ↑ Swinford, Steven (27 April 2014). "Britain must cut taxes and red tape to produce more entrepreneurs". The Telegraph. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  21. ↑ Mostrous, Alexi (28 April 2014). "Who wants to be a billionaire? Follow this simple guide". The Times. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  22. ↑ Chorley, Matt (28 April 2016). "Who wants to be a billionaire? New study reveals the secrets of the 1,000 people who turned an idea into a fortune". The Daily Mail. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  23. 1 2 Clifford, Catherine (28 April 2014). "Self-Made Billionaires Around the Globe: Where and Why They Thrive (Infographic)". NBC News. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  24. ↑ "SuperEntrepreneurs and how your country can get them". Centre for Policy Studies. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  25. ↑ Branson, Richard (28 April 2014). "Long-term thinking needed to support entrepreneurs". Virgin. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  26. ↑ Sanandaji, Nima. "Bokpresentation 24 juni: Scandinavian Unexceptionalism (Book presentation June 24: Scandinavian Unexceptionalism)". Timbro. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  27. ↑ "Scandinavian Unexceptionalism: Culture, Markets and the Failure of Third-Way Socialism". IEA. Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA). 23 June 2015. Retrieved 14 August 2015.

External links

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