SNS/SHoF Finance panel: Is there a need for collecting household wealth data?

Compiled statistics on Swedes' assets and liabilities could be a crucial basis for analyzing economic policy, advocates for a new registry argue. The critics highlight the privacy risks that a "large state super register" could entail and that it could eventually lead to wealth taxation. They also emphasize that it would be too comprehensive, detailed, and expensive.

In the governmental investigation "A New Statistics on Households' Assets and Liabilities," it is proposed that Statistics Sweden (SCB) should be tasked with creating and managing a registry of household assets and liabilities, and that banks and other financial institutions report data to the registry. The previous government commissioned the investigation with the goal of providing a comprehensive view of households' financial positions without compromising personal privacy and data protection. At the end of 2022, the investigation was submitted to the current government, which sent it out for consultation.

Recently, the proposal has gained renewed relevance as the discussion of its advantages and disadvantages has picked up again.

At this seminar, several of the consulting bodies and one of the investigation's experts discussed how a registry of household assets and liabilities could be designed, along with the merits and risks of the investigation's proposal.

 

Speakers:

Daniel Barr, Director General of Finansinspektionen
Johan Fall, Head Tax Policy Department at Confederation of Swedish Enterprise
Johan Hansing, Chief Economist at Swedish Bankers' Association
Roine Vestman, Professor at Stockholm University and Researcher at Swedish House of Finance.

The seminar was held in swedish and moderated by Gunnar Harrius, journalist.