Switzerland’s Foreign Policy

When it comes to foreign policy, and how to run a country for that matter, the current gang of Republican Presidential candidates could learn a thing or two from Switzerland. Richard Rahn, a senior fellow at Cato and Chairman of the Institute for Global Economic Growth, writes:

Being surrounded by countries that are jealous of its success (i.e., many of the current members of the European Union), without much in the way of natural resources and without access to the sea has caused the Swiss to be much more practical and serious when it comes to public policy. They have a national referendum system and direct democracy, where major issues must be agreed upon by a majority of the people and a majority of the cantons, which is slow and cumbersome but tends to mitigate against reckless policies that are often the product of momentary passions.

The U.S. presidential election process has turned into a circus that few would argue leads to the best qualified and sane candidate elected president. Few know who the Swiss president is because it is not terribly important. (It is currently a woman by the name of Simonetta Sommaruga.)

We would have a prosperous and safe world if all countries traded with and invested in each other’s economies; if basic human liberties, property rights, free markets and sound currencies prevailed; if countries ceased to meddle in the internal affairs of others; and if much of the population was armed for the common defense in order to make it too costly for others to invade. In other words if they all acted like Switzerland. It took the Swiss more than 700 years of struggle to create — not a perfect role model — but in total the best on the planet, which others can emulate only to their benefit.

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

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E.J. Smith is the Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH, where he completed course-work in Practical and Defensive Handgun, Conceal Carry Pistol, Shotguns, Precision Scope Rifle and Kidnapping Prevention. E.J. plays a Yamaha Recording Custom drum set with Zilldjian cymbals. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zilldjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@youngresearch.com. Sign up here to receive all the best content from Richardcyoung.com each week.