Christian Sandström
Author, Researcher and Commentator
Dr. Christian Sandström is one of the leading international voices on the effects of the green transition. As an economist and researcher, his studies span disruptive innovation, industrial policy and the dynamics of green bubbles. He is the author of several influential books, including Questioning the Entrepreneurial State (2022) and Moonshots and the New Industrial Policy (2024), which together have been downloaded more than 400,000 times around the world. His latest work includes Northvoltkraschen (2025) and the book series Gröna Bubblor.
A Renowned International Speaker
Dr. Christian Sandström regularly delivers keynotes to diverse groups of decision-makers, drawing on his rigorous, research-based perspectives on the economics of the green transition. Three common themes include:
Green bubbles: the hidden economic risks of the green transition
Disruption, industrial policy, and the green shift
Northvolt and beyond: when green ambitions collide with economic reality
Recent Books
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Northvoltkraschen (2025)
This book offers a sharp, research-driven analysis of the systemic failures behind the Northvolt collapse, revealing how political enthusiasm, media hype, and unchecked optimism created Sweden’s largest corporate failure in nearly a century — and why independent, critical scrutiny is essential in the era of the green transition. It has become a best seller in Sweden. (English version coming soon).
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Moonshots and the New Industrial Policy (2024)
This book offers a critical, research-based assessment of mission-oriented industrial policies, questioning their assumed benefits while highlighting the risks of top-down approaches and the continued importance of independent enterprise and market-driven innovation. It has been downloaded over 100,000 times worldwide.
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Questioning the Entrepreneurial State (2022)
This book critically examines the global resurgence of top-down industrial policy, bringing together leading scholars to evaluate its economic risks, its impact on innovation and entrepreneurship, and its implications for the future role of the state in shaping dynamic, open markets. It has been downloaded over 300,000 times worldwide.
What People Are Saying
“Creative destruction, innovation and entrepreneurship are at the core of economic growth. The government has a clear role, to provide the basic fabric of a dynamic society, but industrial policy and state-owned companies are the boulevard of broken dreams and unrealized visions. This important message is convincingly stated in Questioning the Entrepreneurial State.”
— Anders Borg, former Minister of Finance, Sweden
“Since the Global Financial Crisis, enthusiasm about industrial policies has soared among policymakers and academics alike. But despite the optimism of the advocates, the track record of these efforts—particularly when it comes to their frequent goals of promoting innovation and entrepreneurship—has been very mixed. Moonshots and the New Industrial Policy focuses on carefully understanding the barriers to the effective implementation of industrial policies and serves as a healthy corrective to much of the recent literature.”
— Josh Lerner, Jacob H. Schiff Professor of Investment Banking, Harvard Business School
“Few have dared to question the excesses of the green transition. Sandström is one of the exceptions — and he has been proven right time and again. Now we can learn from the Northvolt collapse.”
— Leif Östling, former CEO of Scania
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