SWEDEN: Taxpayers' Tatler

Once again last week, as it had every year since 1911, Sweden's Taxeringskalender was proving a boon to the boastful, a murrain to the miserly and a surefire smash in the bookstalls. The book—a privately published almanac which meticulously lists the annual earnings of every Swede, except royalty, who makes more than 15,000 kronor (about $3,000)—sold 14,000 copies during the first few days after publication.

As usual, its appearance brought a blizzard of complaints howling down upon Editor Gosta Blomberg and the offices of Sweden's tax collectors. Thousands of outraged taxpayers complained of being undercharged and hence deprived of a...

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