Herbert Lars Gustaf Tingsten (17 March 1896 – 26 December 1973) was a Swedish political scientist, writer and newspaper publisher.

In 1941 he wrote Den svenska socialdemokratiens idéutveckling ("The Development of the Idea of Swedish Social Democracy").

However, after reading Friedrich Hayek's The Road to Serfdom in 1944, Tingsten became a convinced believer in a free market economy and in 1945 he left the Social Democratic Party.

During his time as executive editor of Dagens Nyheter, Tingsten argued for Swedish membership in NATO.

[3] In a number of books and publications, Tingsten anticipated some of the major issues in the political developments of the 20th century,[4] such as the rise of fascism, apartheid in South Africa, the transition of socialism into social democracy as well as the need for democratic vitality in Western societies.