In which society is it easiest to become rich? Contrary to popular belief, it is not countries like the US or Britain that create the highest number of rich people per capita, but Scandinavian social democracies such as Norway and Sweden. As counterintuitive as it may sound, high taxes, generous welfare states and strong unions provide a better environment for the people who want to make huge amounts of money than free markets, low taxes and minimal government intervention.

Harald Eia is a trained sociologist who works in television comedy and documentaries.

This talk was delivered at a TEDx event in the TED conference format, but independently organized by a local community. For more information, visit http://ted.com/tedx

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