Sweden stands out across Europe as a beacon of stability, probity and prosperity while politicians elsewhere grapple with austerity and the fallout of failing banks.

Sweden - which is in the European Union but not the euro - enjoys a budget surplus, low levels of government debt, a near-bulletproof AAA rating, a stable banking system, a robust currency and a strong economy. The country's banks sailed serenely through the crisis, making them the poster kids of the industry, and role models for bankers in the bailed-out and propped-up banking systems strung across western Europe and North America.