Switzerland’s riches go beyond money
Switzerland is a rich country. At some USD 50,000, it has the third highest per capita gross domestic product (GDP) in the world (based on 2012 prices). Its average wealth stands at USD 375,000 – which...
View ArticleMultinational companies: fact and fiction
Avenir Suisse’s new discussion paper examines the close inter-relationships between multinational companies and the Swiss economy. It highlights the profound structural changes that have occurred in...
View ArticleIf Only Singaporeans Stopped to Think
The widely acknowledged quality of Swiss cheese, clocks and chemicals holds valuable lessons for Singapore, according to the Second Minister for Trade and Industry yesterday. Mr S. Iswaran said...
View ArticleManaged Immigration
Switzerland’s referendum vote to curb immigration has prompted questions about how a quota based system could be implemented. A new Avenir Suisse special publication examines and rates administrative...
View ArticleThe strength of small
For small states, success doesn’t come through adjusting or becoming part of a bigger group, but by differentiation. As a stronghold for “the minority view”, amid a vast, global mainstream, Switzerland...
View Article“ . . cast the first stone”
After the 9 February referendum, one observation has become more common than ever, at home and abroad, from the Swiss themselves and from foreigners: Switzerland is cutting itself off. Statistics show:...
View ArticleHow Singapore embraces the future
By European standards, Singapore is an extremely young nation – only in 2015 will it celebrate its 50th birthday. In its initial years, many of the future Asian Tiger’s leaders looked to Switzerland as...
View ArticleWhy Switzerland is a “special case” and cannot be a model for other states
How does the outside world see today’s Switzerland? Why is the country so different from its neighbours? Jonathan Steinberg, professor of history at the Universities of Pennsylvania and Cambridge and...
View ArticleFalse Modesty
Richard W. Rahn, Senior Fellow of the renowned Cato Institute and chairman of the Institute for Global Economic Growth, is an admirer of Switzerland’s political system. But it’s precisely here he...
View ArticleSingapore – surviving by success
Vastly different though their political systems may be, on closer inspection it seems there are some striking parallels between Singapore and Switzerland. The small alpine state could draw a lot of...
View ArticleThose Swiss again!
Franz Schellhorn, director of Agenda Austria, the Vienna-based think tank sees the central difference between his nation and next door Switzerland in the deep rooted Swiss understanding that every...
View ArticleThe Swiss love for small things
According to Alberto Mingardi, director of Italy’s Istituto Bruno Leoni, Swiss democracy is predominantly about small, everyday things, while Italy and most other countries are generally focused on...
View ArticleWhere Switzerland?
We live in era in which the low-cost, instant conveying of ideas has become possible. Australia-based Wolfgang Kasper, a professor emeritus of economics, speculates about the possibility of relocating...
View ArticleThe hidden treasure of Geneva
Why is Switzerland attractive to international organisations? What does the country do well? What must it do to stay ahead? To answer such questions, Avenir Suisse invited three of the stars of...
View ArticleMore Subsidiarity rather than sham Solidarity
Even if the EU crisis has ebbed a bit recently, the problems have by no means been solved. A return to long term growth remains unlikely without further budgetary consolidation and improved...
View Article“A country in good working order”
Razeen Sally's interest in Switzerland stretches back 30 years and is both intellectual and emotional. Today, he admires the country's blend of liberalism and conservatism, while disliking its "cushy...
View ArticleProud of Switzerland?
Pride – a permanent feature in the Worry Barometer survey – is often done an injustice. It is, by itself, a noble emotion, not at all blind to weaknesses. However, the term is frequently used...
View ArticleCitizens’ state and state-minded citizens
Volunteering, that pillar of Swiss politics, is crumbling. Avenir Suisse’s new book illustrates Switzerland’s “militia” system of political volunteering in its full breadth, from municipal to cantonal...
View ArticleFederal theology and property commons: At the roots of the Swiss model
Carlo Lottieri, professor of political philosophy at the University of Siena, Italy, and at the University of Lugano, explains the roots of the successful model of Swiss federalism: a protestant...
View ArticleImpetus for Switzerland
The core business of Avenir Suisse is thinking – using our intellect to build a positive framework for Switzerland. Individual freedom, private ownership, competition, open markets and democratic...
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