Lichtenstein
isn’t just one of the world’s smallest countries, it’s one of the most
prosperous.
Despite having just 37,000 citizens and covering just 61
square miles in central Europe, the microstate has a per capita income of about
$100,000, a corporate flat tax of 12.5 percent, and an income tax of just 1.2
percent.
Now well-known as a banking and financial hub, the principality
wasn’t always so flush. In fact, in 1967 the royal family had to sell a prized
possession— Leonardo da Vinci’s first known portrait—just to keep the country
afloat.
Reason's Nick Gillespie talked with the country’s leader, Prince
Hans-Adams II, at the International Students for Liberty Conference in
Washington, D.C. about how Lichtenstein turned itself around while becoming
world famous for its banking privacy and openness to immigrants.
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