A study by the OECD shows instead that around 35 per cent of Swedish professions have a high or significant risk of automation. 14 Baumol et al (1982). 15 Facebook was far from the first social network. In Sweden there were similar platforms such as Skunk, Lunarstorm, MySpace and other local variations such as Apberget https://www.svd.se/lunarstorm-tillbaka--men-vadhande-med-skunk#sida-2 long before this. However, none of these platforms succeeded in becoming as large or maintaining popularity for as long as Facebook. 16 The European Commission found in a branch study that a majority of companies monitor their competitors’ prices. Two thirds use software to automatically adjust their prices when other companies adjust theirs. 6 [12]  way of dealing with these problems? I think there are three areas that are particularly important. However, I say this in the knowledge that they are far beyond the Riksbank's sphere of influence. Others hold the tools and the responsibility for them.      I would say that opportunities for education and life-long skills development are entirely decisive here. Even highly-educated professional groups, who have previously had a low level of unemployment, will need further development many times during their professional lives. Quite simply, we need to embrace a life-long learning to be able to meet and benefit from technological advances. Taxation and income transfer systems are primary tools to change the gaps in society that follow on from digitalisation. New technology also brings new actors and some of these have become very large.

I base this on some, few, companies having seen their market power increase in recent years.7 These companies are often known as “superstars” and have high profit margins and have experienced high return on invested capital. They are often multinational corporations that sell products and services all over the world. At the same time, it appears as though smaller companies have fared less well. The difference in productivity between superstars and ordinary companies has also increased.8 When we talk to companies in our Business Survey, they largely confirm this picture. The companies that have long been subjected to international competition on global markets have a greater tendency to regard digitalisation as an opportunity than the consumer-related companies with most of their operations in Sweden. Change is a necessary condition for a prosperous society... Regardless of what stage of technological development we are at, it is clear that technological advances revolutionise lives and entire societies. The internal combustion engine transformed transportation in society. Electricity gave us light,  4 Cowen (2011). 5 Brynjolfsson and McAfee (2011). 6 https://voxeu.org/article/technological-progress-thing-past 7  See, for instance, De Loecker and Eekhout (2017, 2018). 8 OECD (2015). 3 [12]  heat and energy. Digitalisation, and above all the internet, has given us almost direct access to enormous amounts of information. Each new innovation replaces other products or changes their areas of use. Our behaviour changes and we make new demands of companies and decision-makers. In some branches the changes have been particularly marked over the past decade. One example is traditional media.