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.

Increased consumer power and greater competition slow down prices and thereby margins for the companies. The changes are necessary to increase our welfare, even if they create problems for some people in the short term. To manage these challenges, we should jointly strengthen the opportunities for education and skills development, even out some of the gaps arising during the upheavals and safeguard the interests of the general public by strengthening competition on the new markets. In a changing world we need to have clear game rules to ensure the economy functions smoothly. Reliable price stability, in terms of purchasing power, is one such game rule. It makes it easier for individuals and companies to plan for the future, it improves price setting and wage formation and thus contributes to more stable economic activity. So, attaining our inflation target of two per cent will help to accomplish the changeover following on from digitalisation. 10 [12]  References Apel, Mikael, Frohm, Eric, Hokkanen, Jyry, Nyman, Christina and Palmqvist, Stefan (2014), Why haven't companies raised their prices? Results from a survey on company pricing”, Economic Commentaries No. 4, 2014, Sveriges Riksbank. Baumol, J William, Panzar, C John, and Willig, D Robert (1982) “Contestable Markets and the Theory of Industry Structure”, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. Brynjolfsson, Erik and McAfee, Andrew (2011) “Race Against The Machine: How the Digital Revolution is Accelerating Innovation, Driving Productivity, and Irreversibly Transforming Employment and the Economy”, New York: W. W. Norton & Company. Cavallo, F Alberto (2017), “Are Online and Offline Prices Similar?