'Never waste a good crisis': How Sweden wants to attract US talent fleeing Trump

[Celerity]

US President Donald Trump has targeted businesses and academia since he was sworn in for a second term, cracking down on diversity programmes and effectively banning some types of research. Now, Sweden hopes to attract the American talent Trump is pushing away.

https://www.thelocal.se/20250417/never-waste-a-good-crisis-how-sweden-wants-to-attract-us-talent-fleeing-trump

https://archive.ph/4DQVI


Donald Trump has frozen billions of dollars in federal funds to Harvard after the university refused to bow to White House demands. Photo: AP Photo/Charles Krupa/via TT

Since Donald Trump was sworn in for a second term as US President, the situation for academics in the US has worsened. The White House has made moves to control research funding and demanded that universities eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes, as well as changing their processes of hiring and admissions. The business world has not been immune from Trump’s calls to eliminate DEI programmes either, issuing an executive order in January to end DEI programmes in federal agencies and writing up a list of over 40 companies he believes to be in violation of these rules.

Gothenburg municipality has its sights on American professionals and academics looking to escape Trump, with deputy mayor Axel Darvik recently calling on the municipality to launch an expert panel with voices from academia and business. “We say you should never waste a good crisis,” he tells The Local. “With the Trump administration withdrawing funding to research and development and also changing the agenda in the US, we think that many people are now rethinking where they should be situated to have the best possibility for their businesses to try and thrive and grow.” “We’re trying to collect these great minds and figure out a plan to make Gothenburg the home for sustainable talents from all over the world, but I think that Americans could be one of the most important target groups,” Darvik said.

He believes Americans working in sustainability or tech would be a particularly good fit for Gothenburg. “Some of the best ideas and some of the sharpest brains and most interesting companies and businesses are in the US today, especially within sustainability, and they must be thinking ‘how are we going to thrive and prosper here in the US now’?” “What we really want to do is stretch out a hand and say ‘OK, if America is not the place to be anymore, there are other places on the globe where you can do just as fine or even better. Really, what we want to say is ‘hello, we are still in this game, and you come and join us here’. Spread your bets on different places.”


Axel Darvik, centre, canvassing together with Liberal Party leader Johan Pehrson in Gothenburg ahead of Sweden's 2022 election. Photo: Björn Larsson Rosvall/TT

Swedish universities are also collaborating with the government on this issue, with Education Minister Johan Pehrson recently hosting a roundtable with the goal of discussing recruitment of students and researchers as well as the possible consequences US policy could have on international collaboration and academic freedom. “I think we had a lot of consensus,” Uppsala University Vice-chancellor Anders Hagfeldt, who was part of that roundtable, told The Local. “It was similar to what those of us from Uppsala experienced on a trip to the US in mid-March.” On that trip, which was a routine visit to the US rather than a specific meeting with the aim of recruitment, Hagfeldt and other management from the university visited the University of Maryland, Harvard and the Broad Institute. “We felt that they very much appreciated that we were there. They spoke about needing a lifeline, ‘we need to be in touch, have academic contacts’, and also the fact that we keep academic freedom high.”

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[delisen]

1. This may be a good thing for our planet.

It does probably hurt the US in the short term. However I would rather our talent go where it can thrive and not be wasted have to fight citizen ignorance and corporate obstruction here.

[Layzeebeaver]

2. I refer to this as the jello mold theory.

If you push on one point on a block of jello, it will deform on opposite sides and around where you are pushing,

this is what will happen as a result of trump pushing on the global system, it will react in opposite and other schemes.

It's not good for the U.S., but it might be really good for the western system.

I say this not because I support trump (FSS I DO NOT!!!) but I predict the global system will respond like an antibody. It might take time, but it will respond. Just like in WW2...

unfortunately, a lot of people and families will be harmed or destroyed in the process.

[Chipper Chat]

3. Maybe Mexico could benefit from

Talented Immigrants from USA
MMGA
Make Mexico Great Again.