The most wired country in Europe is making heroes of its net entrepreneurs. Jonas Birgersson is the new Bjorn Borg. Along with other e-commerce entrepreneurs, Birgersson, the founder of the internet consultancy Framfab, is shaping a new identity for Sweden as the internet capital of Europe and the Swedes are enjoying the title.
Unemployment is down.
E-commerce companies such as Framfab go public, as it did last August, and more than 100 employees become millionaires overnight. Every other day the tabloids are talking about this stock or that company - everybody is so proud of their Swedishness. But there is a wider debate bubbling under the surface. In liberal Sweden, people are starting to ask whether this is such a good thing. Half the population own shares, and many are doing very well financially.