Books

(Förlagets beskrivning av boken.) Under 30 år har Internationella Engelska Skolan (IES) erbjudit familjer ett tydligt alternativ för barnens utbildning. Detta är historien om hur Engelska Skolan startades och har växt, från en början där grundaren Barbara Bergström måste tigga ihop möbler och städa skolan själv på helgerna för att få ekonomin att gå ihop – till en organisation med i dag 46 skolor och 32 000 elever.

Första upplagan publicerades 2018, när företaget fyllde 25 år. I ett nyskrivet längre efterord diskuterar Hans och Barbara Bergström vad som hänt de senaste fem åren, 2018-2023. Under denna period har IES öppnat tolv nya grundskolor, samtliga tillkomna på aktiv önskan från de kommuner där skolorna öppnats. IES har också fått en ny huvudägare.

Författarna konstaterar att ny forskning, särskilt om hjärna och lärande, ger starkt belägg för de idéer som präglat IES från start. Dit hör att undervisningen måste vara lärarledd, att elevernas fokus inte får störas av mobiltelefoner, att det måste råda vuxenauktoritet för att inte gäng och mobbning ska ta över, att datorer inte kan ersätta den djupare inpräntning som sker genom skrivande för hand på papper, att skolbibliotek måste vara bemannade med bibliotekarier som främjar läsning, att återkoppling till elever och föräldrar bör ske tidigt och regelbundet, att skolluncherna ska vara näringsriktiga och varierade, med mera. Andra behöver ta efter och IES har ingen anledning att skämmas för sin värdegrund och inriktning.

Medierna har det under de senaste åren bedrivits en intensiv kampanj mot friskolor, inklusive IES. Författarna diskuterar denna kampanj och dess effekter. Barbara Bergström: Jag hade omöjligen kunnat förverkliga de viktiga idéer som burit Internationella Engelska Skolan genom 30 år inom ramen för ett kommunalt huvudmannaskap. Boken ger tuffa recept för den svenska skolan, byggda på gedigen erfarenhet. Den har också ett vidare intresse, för alla som funderar över villkoren för starkt ledarskap och utmaningarna när ett företag växer.

Barbara Bergström utsågs 2009 till ”Årets företagare i Sverige” av Företagarna och av Veckans Affärer 2017 till ”Årets mäktigaste kvinnliga entreprenör”. Hon fick även Svenska Dagbladets pris för ”Årets affärsbragd” 2018 och Patriotiska sällskapets utmärkelse för ”Betydande forskargärning” 2021.

Andra upplagan med efterord om åren 2018-2023.

Hans Bergstrom and Mats Svegfors were in charge of the opinion pages in Dagens Nyheter and Svenska Dagbladet, respectively - the two most prominent Swedish newspapers. Their writings during the 1990s are still remembered by many. During the covid winter of 2020/21, the two former editors exchanged letters across the Atlantic, reflecting on the pandemic, on the presidential transition in the US, on the failures of journalism and several other relevant subjects. Their communication also touches upon life perspectives and time horizons at the age of 73. Their reflections on the human condition are honestly and sensitively written, and provide deep insights also for younger readers.

This is the story about the start of the English School in Sweden in 1993 and how it became the dominant free school organization in the middle school segment. It is a story about education, but also about leadership and entrepreneurship. The book provides a lively presentation of the convictions and struggles behind Sweden´s most successful school organization. Based on long experience, it also makes important observations on how to exercise strong leadership, as well as of the many challenges for a fast-growing company.

John McCain was a legendary US senator, representing the state of Arizona. He became known for his independent streak and personal integrity. He was often labelled a “maverick”. He forcefully advocated an active American foreign policy, in support of freedom. In 2008, McCain was nominated as the Republican presidential candidate, but was defeated by Barack Obama. The book presents the fascinating life and political causes of John McCain, and provides an insightful analysis of American politics.

This book is the final report from a major project around the Swedish medical industry. Sweden has long held a world leading position in developing new pharmaceuticals as well as new medical technology. The pacemaker and the titan implants are two of many examples. But the environment for innovation and tests have weakened. The book reveals why and provides plans for action. They pertain not least to reforms to once again place Swedish health care at the forefront of research and innovation.

(Published in Swedish as ”Tre stora, tre små”.) The subject of the book is biomedical innovation systems in three major countries – USA, the research leader of the world, China, with grand ambitions, and India, with a fast-growing medical industry. But the book also describes how three smaller countries – Ireland, Denmark and Finland – have been able to advance with the support of deliberate policies. They show that it is possible also for a small country, with good strategies, to become successful in a field of growing importance for the future - medical innovation and industry.

The government is expected to lead the country, focusing on the main strategic aspects for future success. This book, with original research, analyses how well the Swedish government is functioning for this crucial task. It shows major deficiencies in the ability to intelligently handle qualified reports and inputs from agencies and research, its “reception capacity”. Political logic and paradigms are, though, even more important in taking focus away from the vital conditions for innovation and growth.

During his years as editor at Dagens Nyheter, with a particular responsibility for the opinion pages, Hans Bergström published a special column on Sundays, with perspectives beyond the politics of the day. The book contains a selection of these columns. The title refers to the new biology, with the mapping of the human genome and with a better understanding of the brain as a main new task for research. The biological revolution, and its implications, was a recurrent theme for the Sunday columns.

Elections in a democracy are supposed to settle directions and decisions from the elected government. But the relationship between elections and the outcome of decisions is complex. Realities for a government regularly becomes very different from what was assumed during the election campaign. Coalitions and negotiations can also force many deviations from program presented. These and other legitimate deviations between promises and actions are analyzed in the chapter on “a Government´s mandate”.

This doctoral dissertation from 1987 analyses time as a political factor. Political logic before an election is distinctly different from after an election. Conditions for action early on for a new government are much more favorable than later. A central observation is that the skills required to win an election are totally different from those needed to govern successfully and handle the Executive. Still, the sense of mandate for a new government provides special opportunities at the start, for which a winner is rarely well prepared.

This was the ”yes-book”, published ahead of the Swedish referendum in the spring of 1980 on the use of nuclear power plants. It argues for the use of the already approved 12 nuclear plants during their technical life time - instead of closing them down within ten years, as was the “no” position in the referendum. In particular, the authors claim that it would be a gigantic economic waste to close down well functioning nuclear power plants, which also make the Swedish electrical production nearly fossil free.

In the wake of a wave of radicalization in the West, with 1968 as a symbolic year, and the new power demonstrated by the third world oil producing cartel during the 1970s (Opec I and Opec II), the concept of “a new economic world order” became á la mode. This book by a group of leading liberals defends a free market position, combined with enhanced development aid. Hans Bergstrom´s contribution argues, in particular, for open access to trade as the most important factor for a take off of the economies of poor countries.