The Swiss have been attempting to negotiate treaty terms with the EU. In light of the Brexit vote, the Swiss find themselves at the back of the line when it comes to priorities for EU leadership. The Brexit will also have immediate financial impacts that Swissinfo.ch details here: Britain has decided to leave the European Union. […]
The Swiss Way
I have written in the past of the Swiss Confederation and its weak central government form (the presidency is a ceremonial office and rotates). The office has no powers above the other six members of the Swiss Federal Council. The entire Federal Council is considered a collective head of state. Switzerland is a neutral country with a low crime rate and a powerful national defense system. Instead of fielding a large standing army, Switzerland requires every man to undergo military training for a few days or weeks a year throughout most of his life. Each man is required to keep his assigned automatic rifle at home at the ready. The Swiss are powerful believers in individual liberty and freedom. They believe that there is no need for a higher legal authority to check people’s initiatives. In fact, federal court in Switzerland is not allowed to rule on any constitutional matter at the national level. The Swiss are all about keeping things at the cantonal level. Keep it local is the key in Switzerland.
There is a lot to learn for Americans from “the Swiss way.” Switzerland’s model is precisely the weak form of central government intended by our Founders. The best outline of what a constitutionally strong form of federal republic looks like is Ron Paul’s Liberty Defined. The chapter on “Empire” alone will amaze you. -- Dick Young
What Brexit Means for Switzerland
An Island of Peace and Prosperity
Originally posted April 28, 2015. Richard W. Rahn, senior fellow at the Cato Institute, reports that, according to the United Nations, the #1 place to be happy is Switzerland. The United States, for example, ranks #15. Read here from our friend Richard Rahn how landlocked Switzerland, without much in the way of natural resources, with […]
Presidential Election 2012 & Woodstock 1969
Originally posted December 12, 2011. Were you at Woodstock? It was a seminal event—some 500,000 strong. A little muddy and a little dopey, but what energy was delivered. People from all over the country showed up to peacefully protest Lyndon Johnson’s Vietnam War while they enjoyed great music from Joe Cocker, among many. Joe’s “With […]
Pricing Minorities Out of Jobs
“It is not a breakthrough on the frontiers of knowledge that minimum-wage laws reduce employment opportunities for the young and the unskilled of any age,” writes Thomas Sowell in NRO. Check out the unemployment rates in such countries as Spain, Greece and South Africa where unemployment rates hover around 25 percent. Why? Each of these […]
Higher Taxes Are the Answer!
The Cato Institute’s Dan Mitchell explains that if the goal is bigger government and more red ink, than higher taxes are a solution. Dan is America’s foremost scholarly, think tank advocate against big government and pro Federalism leading to innovation, diversity and experimentation. In his “The Best-Ever Argument for Federalism,” Dan writes, “The nation with […]
Misguided Putin Aggression Sends Russian Stocks Down 16% YTD
The best way to deal with Putin’s aggression, inspired by Eurasianist Alexander Dugin, is to drive Russian asset values sharply downward while isolating Russia and its oligarchs from international financial institutions. There is also no debate that a plan to drive oil prices downward would have a powerful negative impact on Russia. On a somewhat […]
Le Monde Calls it a Political Earthquake in France
Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigration, anti-EU party is sending shudders throughout Europe. In France, Le Pen has created, as the left-leaning Nouvel Observateur calls it, “the new age of the extreme right.” A recent Cevipof survey reports that nearly 90% of French believe that their politicians are out of touch with the people. The ruling Socialist […]
Personal and Banking Safety in Monaco
If you have accumulated some wealth, after a long lifetime of hard work, you are no doubt interested in securing your financial future. I have long found it prudent to broadly diversify financial and real estate assets. A year or so ago, Debbie and I traveled to Switzerland in the hope—small though it was—of being […]
Anti-EU Swiss Peoples Party Wins Immigration Battle
Switzerland has voted to curb immigration, and this could be only the beginning. Foreigners now make up 25% of the Swiss population and the right wing Swiss Peoples Party is on the move to slash the foreign headcount. After its recent groundbreaking victory, the Peoples Party is on track to put forward an initiative to […]