Jesus was a socialist.

I’m an atheist, but I still love the Bible stories, and I’m sure of one thing: Jesus would not approve of the capitalist system we live under today.

We’re constantly told that entrepreneurs are special people. They create wealth, the story goes, and that wealth creates jobs and trickles down to everyone else. But why do we hold entrepreneurs in such high esteem? I don’t remember Jesus ever saying, “Blessed are the risk-takers.” He said, “Blessed are the poor.” He said it would be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. And the only time he lost his temper, he turned over the tables of the money-changers.

What do entrepreneurs actually do? They look for opportunities and they take risks. Sometimes the risk pays off. That’s it.

I should declare an interest. I’ve been an entrepreneur all my life, and I’ve done very well out of it. But I’ve never understood why I should be rewarded so much more than people whose work matters far more: nurses, teachers, police officers, and the millions of everyday workers who keep the country running. Somehow society has decided that entrepreneurs are the special ones, and that they’re what makes an economy strong.

Jesus wouldn’t have seen it that way. He had no time for money or money-making, and even less for power. He believed in ordinary men and women.

So I think it’s time to move to the left, and away from the American model. The state should get more involved: nationalising some industries, protecting others, and taking the lead on housing. That doesn’t mean I’m against reform. The welfare state needs looking at. Social care needs looking at. Immigration needs looking at. But our goal shouldn’t be completely free, unregulated markets, because when the markets rule, entrepreneurs win and equality loses.

If America teaches us anything, it’s that trickle-down economics doesn’t work. Leave everything to the markets with no state involvement and you end up with a few very rich, very powerful people and a vast majority who can’t afford their everyday lives.

A booming economy is only a booming economy if it helps everyone. One that just produces more multimillionaires and billionaires isn’t a moral success, and it doesn’t make anyone happier.

We know this. Year after year, the Scandinavian countries, with their more left-wing approach, top the world happiness rankings. Much of that comes down to how evenly their wealth is shared. The huge inequalities of the free-market countries can only produce less contented societies.

Blessed are the risk-takers? I don’t think so.