by the general public ’ s savings in that the banks were forced to invest in housing bonds. in the 1960s, the general pension fund ( ap fund ) was established, which meant that the state gained further control over savings in the economy and over the conditions for the banks ’ funding. when pension allocations began to be deposited with the ap fund, it quickly grew to become the largest investor in mortgage bonds, among others. developments accelerated when the credit and currency markets were deregulated in the mid - 1980s at the same time as technological developments were beginning in the financial markets. new participants entered the markets and began to offer new financial products, such as saving in unit trusts. the swedish banks were not slow in following the trend and began to offer their customers their own unit trusts. saving in unit trusts involved gains for both the banks and households. the banks gained a new source of income and households were given the opportunity to actively invest their savings and spread risk. state initiatives have since continued to push household saving towards the securities market. “ allemansfonder ” ( national public saving funds ), investment savings accounts, unitlinked insurances and individual pension savings are all examples of savings forms that are under certain circumstances taxed at a lower rate than savings in traditional bank accounts. these beneficial tax regulations have given households an incentive to increase their saving in securities. as households have saved to a greater degree in securities, the conditions for the banks ’ funding have also changed. there is indeed a global trend for households to invest in unit trusts and other securities, but in sweden saving in mutual funds is rather more extensive than in many other countries. 3, 4 although household saving still finances the banks, it now done increasingly indirectly through the securities market, when pension funds and other financial agents, both swedish and international, invest in the banks ’ bonds. this has meant that the number of intermediaries and links between different financial agents has increased. in other words, the system has become more complex. a more integrated financial system mortgage institutions were for a long time independent of the banks, although there were indirect links in that the banks invested in the mortgage institutions ’ bonds. when the credit market was deregulated and liquidity ratios were revoked, these investments were to some extent replaced by direct loans to mortgage institutions. over the years, the links between mortgage institutions and the banks have continued to strengthen. at the beginning of the 1990s, a number of amendments were made to the regulations, enabling the

per hour worked, together with an estimated trend ( figure 3 ). we see that productivity growth varies strongly, but also that it shows a tendency to increase over time, particularly during the 1990s. this is a marked difference compared with developments in the 1970s, when the trend was instead a downward one. during the 1980s the actual productivity growth levelled out at a low level and was often around 1 per cent or below - with the exception of a few individual years. during the 1990s, on the other hand, there was a rapid increase and productivity growth stabilised at a level above 2 per cent. we don't know exactly what was the driving force behind this development. but allow me nevertheless to indicate some factors that may have played an important role. the economic crisis at the beginning of the 1990s probably played a not so insignificant role in raising productivity growth during the first half of the 1990s. during the crisis years production with a low level of productivity was put out of business and unemployment increased which led to an increase in the labour productivity measured. this one - off effect raised the level of productivity growth but at the same time meant that a large percentage of society's available resources was not utilised. in connection with and directly after the crisis there were also a number of changes in the swedish economy that have affected developments since then. new regulations were established for fiscal policy, with an expenditure ceiling and surplus target. at the same time, monetary policy was successfully aimed at safeguarding low inflation. also during the 1990s a number of markets were deregulated and opened to domestic and international competition. in addition, sweden joined the eu. this development entails an increased international integration of product and labour markets, which should have had a favourable effect on productivity growth. a further explanation is the shifting between sectors in the swedish economy. during the 1960s and 1970s there was a rapid growth in employment in the public sector, while the private sector declined. following the crisis at the beginning of the 1990s the situation was reversed ( figure 4 ). as productivity growth in the public sector is probably lower than productivity growth in the private sector, this development results in a rise in productivity for the economy as a whole. these effects are reinforced by the fact that the national accounts are based on the calculation assumption that there is no productivity increase in the public sector at all. during the second half of the 1990s in particular, there was a rapid development in information technology, which entailed greater efficiency in knowledge transfer between individuals and