Sweden has a higher proportion of billionaires than the US, but far from causing anti-capitalist backlash the supposedly socialist nation welcomes its wealthy, say Rainer Zitelmann and Anders Ydstedt

In an article entitled ‘Sweden: a socialist paradise overflowing with billionaires’, Ruchir Sharma implied this was a bad thing.

Writing in the Financial Times about Sweden, he noted that the proportion of billionaires is high compared to other countries and suggested this could lead to an anti-capitalist revolt.

Firstly, the data in the article needs to be corrected. Ruchir Sharma writes that Sweden has 45 dollar billionaires on the Forbes list. Relevant to the policy discussion is that there are 32 dollar billionaires in Sweden, 13 of whom live outside the country, as also shown by the Forbes list. What is correct is that Sweden has a higher proportion of dollar billionaires than the US.

When Sharma sees an increase in the number of rich people as a problem, it should be noted that confiscatory high taxes on capital and threats of socialist polices once caused many successful entrepreneurs to leave Sweden. They took their companies, money, and ideas with them, and Sweden lost growth, employment and prosperity.

To reverse this negative trend, the Swedish parliament unanimously abolished inheritance and gift taxes in 2004. A few years later, the wealth tax was abolished. Politicians........

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