BOOK TIP | Super rich and equal

The idea that someone’s success is the cause of someone else’s problems is harmful to society and not based on facts. This is according to Daniel Waldenström, professor of economics, who recently published the book Superrika och Jämlika. In it, he reviews economic inequality and its historical development in Sweden and the rest of the Western world.

One of the book’s main messages is that corporate profits or super-rich entrepreneurs are not a problem for the economy. Instead, the author argues that corporate success has made us all better off – not made others poor.

Although inequalities are still very much present, they have decreased over time. Today, we are richer than ever – and also more equal. This book presents the keys that have brought us here and that we must continue to develop to keep moving in the same direction. Alongside new technology, greater democracy, education reforms, labor laws, and modern banking, people’s ability to start owning is one of the main keys to our economic well-being. The author argues that economic policies should be designed in a way that allows more people to build wealth, with a particular focus on home ownership and retirement capital.

Wealth does not only create quality of life for the individual. According to Waldenström, major societal challenges such as climate change, gender inequality and integration challenges can also be solved by making us all richer.