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by barry-cotter
3105 days ago
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By any metric you care to look at Switzerland is a pretty great country. Life expectancy, crime, education, people wanting to immigrate, indices of economic freedom and ease of business, you name it Switzerland looks good. And it is by far the most democratic country on Earth, the closest to a direct democracy. The EU talks a good game on subsidiarity, delegating decisions and authority to the lowest sensible level, but Switzerland actually does it. |
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Switzerland is barely bigger than Toronto - so they hard hardly comparable.
Switzerland is almost a 'city state' and at that level, direct democracy is much more achievable. Many municipalities in the west also have more direct ballots - that said - they don't cover the heavy-duty things like human rights.
It's also worth noting that more than 1/3 of the world's offshore wealth sits in Switzerland, largely due to privacy and detachment from regimes that can (could) not access information - and of course stability.
This is an incredibly historical advantage that yields enormous wealth for the nation as they manage incredible amounts of passive income. Buying and trading low risk assets.
It's a lot easier when you're rich, money papers over a lot of problems.
I am not a banker but I was almost recruited by a family office in Geneva a while back.