Swedes' public finance policies could do wonders for your home, life Via TaxProf Blog, we read a commentary in TaxAnalysts by tax guru David Cay Johnston pointing out a few facts the revenue haters would prefer be kept under wraps. In this country of 9 million people, there are as many as 1.3 million pleasure boats, meaning that on their own or through extended family, the vast majority of citizens have access to the water by motor or sail. That is a boat ownership rate at least twice that of the United States... How can this be? According to American political dogma, high taxes destroy economies. How can the Swedes afford second homes and boats, not to mention nice cars, after paying all those taxes? Sweden is the epitome of high taxes. It is one of only two modern countries where taxes account for more than half of the GDP (the other is Denmark). The tax take in Sweden and Denmark, as a share of the economy, is 85 percent greater than in the United States, according to the OECD. Surely, then, America must be prospering while Sweden and Denmark sink into a pit of economic despair. Image by Flicker user Squirmelia used under a Creative Commons license