Summary
Overview
Work history
Education
Skills
Timeline
Generic
JOHN GUSTAVSSON

JOHN GUSTAVSSON

137 31 Haninge

Summary

Highly-motivated Economics PhD with experience of economic & regulatory policy-making gained at the highest levels of European politics. Effective communicator with a proven track record in academic and professional writing, public speaking, and lecturing.

Overview

7
7
years of professional experience
11
11
years of post-secondary education

Work history

Political secretary

Haninge Municipality
Haninge
02.2025 - Current
  • Responsible for policy development and research for the Sweden Democrats, a party which forms part of the governing coalition in the municipality of Haninge (population 100 000) in the Stockholm region.
  • Have developed innovative, never-before-implemented policies on diverse areas ranging from transparency to social welfare, integration, education, and wildlife management.
  • Responsible for planning and revamping campaign strategy for the election next year, and for training activists.

Policy researcher & ghostwriter

European Conservatives and Reformists
Remote
04.2022 - Current
  • Ghostwriter and policy researcher for the European Conservatives and Reformists group in the European Parliament, working as an independent service provider.
  • Conducted a research and policy development project focused on how to stem the growth of EU bureaucracy. As part of this project I evaluated the recently introduced 'one in, one out' regulation framework by the European Commission and formulated a more efficient alternative for regulatory offsetting.

Political commentator

Multiple
Remote
11.2020 - Current
  • Frequent contributor to the National Review and the Dispatch, contributing 1-2 long-form commentary pieces per month to each magazine. Author profiles: https://www.nationalreview.com/author/john-gustavsson/ and https://thedispatch.com/author/john-gustavsson/
  • Full-time columnist at Bulletin, a Swedish online newspaper. Columns are routinely among the top five most read pieces on the site in any given day.
  • Cover topics spanning economic and regulatory strategies, financial policy, and the political landscape within Europe.

Senior research executive

Verian Group
Brussels, Belgium
10.2023 - 07.2024
  • Played a key role in a team that developed a handbook for the European Commission and tax authorities in three member states, applying behavioural economics to enhance tax compliance.
  • Improved data accuracy by introducing new measures to identify and address inattentive participants in surveys and experiments.
  • Gave presentations and met with clients.

Lecturer in Economics

DIS Stockholm
Stockholm, Sweden
01.2022 - 05.2023
  • Taught 'Economics of gender', an intermediate-level college course, during the spring terms of 2022 & 2023 at DIS, a non-profit study abroad foundation.
  • Responsible for designing syllabus and learning objectives, as well as for planning field studies.
  • Instruction was provided exclusively in English.

Accredited parliamentary assistant

European Parliament
Brussels, Belgium
07.2019 - 12.2020
  • Worked as policy adviser-grade accredited parliamentary assistant as part of a small, multi-disciplinary team of APAs for an elected Member of the European Parliament (MEP).
  • Worked with a wide variety of political issues and areas, mostly related to economic, financial and energy policy. Examples include the European Green Deal, the Single Resolution Mechanism and the European Investment Bank.
  • Responsible for providing legislative vote recommendations based on available evidence and MEP's political goals, as well as evaluating and drafting new policy proposals.
  • Drafted and developed two separate policy proposals that subsequently passed.
  • Performed extensive secondary research on political topics, with a focus on economic and regulatory policies, and delivered briefs & presentations on findings
  • Met and corresponded with stakeholders including voters and party officials as well as special interest groups.
  • Responsible for speech writing and for coaching MEP ahead of interviews and debates.

Political secretary

Örebro Municipality
Örebro, Sweden
01.2019 - 07.2019
  • Worked as a political secretary for Örebro municipality (population 150,000) on behalf of a political party.
  • Responsible for policy evaluation and for developing the party's local economic policies at a time when Örebro was one of the most indebted municipalities in Sweden.
  • Developed a number of policy proposals to tackle the debt crisis, including a proposal to establish an innovative municipal crowdfunding system for the local cultural and creative sectors that would have replaced some of the municipal funding.
  • Developed a proposal to increase transparency and accountability by making it easier for taxpayers to find out how much money they as individuals paid towards different (municipal) spending areas.
  • Developed a proposal, based on behavioural economic research, that aimed to reduce waste and over-use of public resources through a targeted information campaign that would inform inhabitants of the full cost of the free and subsidised services provided by the municipality (thus hopefully discouraging overuse).
  • Played a key role in the local party’s election efforts for the 2018, 2022, and 2024 campaigns

Political secretary

Örebro Municipality
Örebro, Sweden
01.2018 - 04.2018
  • Employed remotely as a part-time political secretary on a four-month contract, assisting the Örebro chapter of a political party in preparation for the upcoming election.
  • Duties involved planning the election campaign, advising on the party's messaging, and formulating policy proposals aligned with the campaign's objectives.

Education

PhD - Economics

Maynooth University
09.2014 - 12.2020

MSc - Behavioural Economics

University of Nottingham
09.2012 - 07.2014

BA - Finance and Economics

Maynooth University
09.2009 - 09.2012

Skills

  • Policy research & development
  • Original & secondary (desk) research
  • Academic & professional writing
  • Public speaking & debating
  • Data collection, analysis & interpretation
  • Survey & experimental research
  • Proficient in MS Office & STATA

Timeline

Political secretary

Haninge Municipality
02.2025 - Current

Senior research executive

Verian Group
10.2023 - 07.2024

Policy researcher & ghostwriter

European Conservatives and Reformists
04.2022 - Current

Lecturer in Economics

DIS Stockholm
01.2022 - 05.2023

Political commentator

Multiple
11.2020 - Current

Accredited parliamentary assistant

European Parliament
07.2019 - 12.2020

Political secretary

Örebro Municipality
01.2019 - 07.2019

Political secretary

Örebro Municipality
01.2018 - 04.2018

PhD - Economics

Maynooth University
09.2014 - 12.2020

MSc - Behavioural Economics

University of Nottingham
09.2012 - 07.2014

BA - Finance and Economics

Maynooth University
09.2009 - 09.2012
JOHN GUSTAVSSON