Editor's note: ...in 1913 as an independent, decentralized banking system — with regional branches responding to local capital flows, acting as a "lender of last resort" by
buying corporate paper rather than government debt. Over time, however,
political pressure transformed the Fed into a centralized tool for financing government debt: after World War I the Fed was
forced to buy government bonds, and under the New Deal era its regional independence was dismantled in favor of centralized control. As a result, what was once a stable, self‑adjusting monetary system
became a debt‑driven mechanism that inflates money supply perpetually — trapping the economy in a cycle of rising obligations and now fueling a looming "sovereign‑debt crisis." The massive welfare fraud uncovered in Sweden, where over €325 million (roughly US$378 million) was siphoned to gang networks, highlights how poorly monitored government programs can be exploited. This mirrors critiques of debt-driven monetary policy: just as central banks' purchasing of government debt can distort financial incentives and create systemic vulnerabilities, financing large social programs without strict oversight can enable fraud, misallocation, and long-term fiscal strain — showing that both debt-heavy policy and weak administration only amplifies structural risks.
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Sweden: Report finds over €325 million in fraudulent welfare benefits has been paid to gang criminals, providing a safety net for illicit networks
The government-backed report finds law-abiding Swedish taxpayers are inadvertently subsidizing criminal gangs through the benefit system
November 28, 2025 | By
Thomas Brooke
A Swedish government review has found that thousands of people linked to gangs in Sweden have been drawing income from the country's benefits system for years, creating what authorities describe as a reliable, legal-looking revenue stream for criminal networks.