As the burden of fewer and fewer productive people maintaining an ever-increasing army of under-employed time-servers and those that find a generous dole much more congenial than working, the collapse of state socialism is spreading from the communist countries to the likes of Australia and Sweden: in Australia, the government has had to eliminate the dole for anyone not seriously seeking work, in Sweden, the giants of the economy are suffering the effects of a workforce that has become underproductive because of excessive absenteeism; latest victim is office supplies and equipment giant Esselte AB, which announced a 70% slump in first half pre-tax profits to $17m and said that it would have to make widespread lay-offs in all parts of its business, although it declined to give numbers; the announcement follows similar first half profit slumps and consequent cuts at Volvo AB and Electrolux AB.
