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Johan Norberg

Johan Norberg
Johan Norberg , in 2019
Johan Norberg , in 2019
Born1973 (age 50–51)
Stockholm, Sweden
OccupationAuthor
SubjectGlobalization, history of ideas, economics
Website
johannorberg.net

Johan Norberg (Swedish: [ˈjûːan ˈnûːrbærj]; born 1973)[1] is a Swedish author and historian of ideas, devoted to promoting economic globalization and what he describes as classical liberal positions. He is the author of In Defense of Global Capitalism (2001), Progress: Ten Reasons to Look Forward to the Future (2016), and The Capitalist Manifesto: Why the Global Free Market Will Save the World (2023). Since 15 March 2007, he has been a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, and since January 2017 an executive editor at Free To Choose Media, where he regularly produces documentaries for US public television.

Early life and education

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Johan Norberg was born in Stockholm, the son of former Swedish National Archivist Erik Norberg and his wife Birgitta. He grew up in the suburb of Hässelby in western Stockholm. In his youth, Norberg was active as an "anti-industrial anarchist" during high school, but later abandoned those views and became a classical liberal. According to the biography given on his personal website, Norberg was disillusioned with the anarchist view of liberty when he discovered the collectivist themes in the major anarchist works and was unable to sympathize with the pre-industrial society which its anarcho-primitivism promoted. This realization made him embrace classical liberalism, which he felt "took freedom seriously."[2] He studied at Stockholm University from 1992 to 1999 and earned an M.A. with a major in the history of ideas. His other subjects included philosophy, literature and political science. During his time at Stockholm University, he was active in the libertarian network Frihetsfronten ("the Liberty Front") and was the editor of its journal Nyliberalen ("The Neoliberal"/"The Libertarian") from 1993 to 1997.

Career

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Norberg presenting himself at the Gothenburg bookfair 2012.

In 1997, Norberg was contacted by the Swedish liberal think tank Timbro, who invited him to write a book about the Swedish author Vilhelm Moberg. The book, Motståndsmannen Vilhelm Moberg, sold well and sparked much debate which allowed him to write another book, on the history of Swedish liberalism. This book, Den svenska liberalismens historia, also became a success and in 1999 Norberg joined the permanent staff of Timbro. From 1999 to 2002 he was assistant editor-in-chief of the webzine Smedjan.com. In 1999 he started the website Frihandel.nu to put forward the case for free trade and open economies.

Having participated in a number of debates against the Swedish anti-globalization movement, in May 2001 he released the book In Defense of Global Capitalism (Swedish: Till världskapitalismens försvar) where he assembles his arguments for globalization and free trade. In 2002 the book was selected for the Sir Antony Fisher International Memorial Award by the Atlas Economic Research Foundation and in 2003 Norberg was awarded the gold medal of the German Hayek Stiftung (an award shared with former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and the German economist Otmar Issing). The British Channel 4 also invited him to present the documentary film Globalisation is Good (released in 2003), which is based on his book.

From 2002 to 2005, Norberg was head of political ideas at Timbro. From 2006 to 2007 he was a Senior Fellow with the Brussels-based think tank Centre for the New Europe.

Since 15 March 2007, he has been a Senior Fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based Cato Institute. He is also a member of the international Mont Pelerin Society. In January 2017 Norberg became Executive Editor of Free To Choose Media.

In September 2020 he published the book Open: The Story of Human Progress, described by The Economist as "clear, colourful and convincing".[3]

Awards and honours

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Bibliography

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ https://www.cato.org/news-releases/2007/3/15/johan-norberg-joins-cato-institute-senior-fellow [bare URL]
  2. ^ "Biography, Johan Norberg". JohanNorberg.Net. Archived from the original on 2 February 2007. Retrieved 18 February 2008.
  3. ^ "Two books expound the virtues of open societies". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  4. ^ "Winners of the 2002 Fisher Awards". Atlas Economic Research Foundation. Archived from the original on 24 November 2007. Retrieved 18 February 2008.
  5. ^ "Friedrich August von Hayek Stiftung: Award Recipients". www.hayek-stiftung.de.
  6. ^ Kittel, Christoffer (21 April 2005). "Han har Sveriges bästa blogg" (in Swedish). Internetworld. Retrieved 10 July 2007.
  7. ^ Jilmstad, Lars (8 December 2006). "Nicolin-pris går till Norberg" (in Swedish). Confederation of Swedish Enterprise. Retrieved 18 February 2008.
  8. ^ Norberg, Johan (5 October 2007). "The James Joyce Award". JohanNorberg.Net. Retrieved 18 February 2008.
  9. ^ "The myth of Swedish socialist success - FMF". politicsweb. 7 March 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  10. ^ "Julian L. Simon Memorial Award". Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  11. ^ "Have we learned anything?". Archived from the original on 18 October 2009. Retrieved 15 October 2009.
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