A conversation between Asa Briggs and Gunnar Heckscher Sweden is often regarded as a model, politically and economically, of what a modern state should be. Taking this view as his starting point, Asa Briggs, Professor of Modern History in the University of Leeds, discusses some aspects of modern Swedish society with Gunnar Heckscher, Professor of Political Science at the University of Stockholm and a member of the Conservative Opposition in the Swedish Riksdag. Professor Briggs speaks from London, Professor Heckscher from Stockholm.