Today, Sweden is perceived as an example of successful reforms because it anticipated the need for economic restructuring at an early stage - namely in the early 1990s when the country suffered from a banking crisis and exchange rate problems. Sweden reacted by making its labour markets more flexible and adapting its social welfare systems to the new environment.
In Germany, by contrast, structural reforms had a much lower priority on the agenda in the 1990s. Unfortunately, German reunification was not seized as an opportunity to explore new approaches in economic policy. The preparations for European integration also tied up a lot of resources at the time.