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Politicians should not be afraid of people’s power

This content was published on Jun 2, 2016 Having dedicated most of his professional life to issues of participatory democracy, the 63-year old trained political scientist and politician looks back over four decades in a wide-ranging collection of essays, interviews, analyses and a speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. His book Die unvollendete Direkte Demokratie (Unfinished direct democracy) was…

Private bankers demand tax breaks on criminal fines

This content was published on Jun 2, 2016 The reason? Swiss banks should not be responsible for upholding the laws of foreign countries. Starting with a $780 million fine for UBS in 2009, the United States alone has hit more than 80 Swiss banks with penalties totalling well over $5 billion. More financial sanctions are expected, not just from the US but from…

Opinion

The false promise of negative interest rates

This content was published on Jun 1, 2016 It’s a good question, one that recalls a passage in Keynes’s General Theory in which he notes that if the government can’t think of anything more sensible to do to cure unemployment (say, building houses), burying bottles filled with bank notes and digging them up again would be better than nothing. He probably would have…

Transport minister gets emotional at Gotthard opening

This content was published on Jun 1, 2016

Suicide highlights Swiss executive stress

This content was published on Jun 1, 2016 Zurich Insurance has announced that Martin Senn, its former chief executive, has taken his own life, six months after he quit the Swiss insurer under a cloud. His death came three years after Pierre Wauthier, then Zurich’s finance director, also took his own life. Other high profile suicides include Carsten Schloter, chief executive of telecoms…

The Gotthard Base Tunnel in numbers

This content was published on Jun 1, 2016 (SRF, swissinfo.ch)

Eight things you should know about the Gotthard

This content was published on Jun 1, 2016 1. The Gotthard Pass is legendary. As the scene of a swearing of allegiance between the first cantons in 1291 and of resistance against wartime occupation, the Gotthard region has a unique aura. Even the Matterhorn doesn’t have the symbolic value of this massif: the cradle of the confederation, the centre of the Alps, the…

Party strongholds and political battlefields 1971−2011

This content was published on Jun 1, 2016 This is how communes have voted in elections since 1971: Swiss People’s Party vs. Social Democrats in canton Vaud, Uri as a traditional Radical Party stronghold, and a neck-and-neck races in Geneva.

Finland’s example of ‘conditional’ basic income

This content was published on May 31, 2016 Two countries, two paths – and some interesting parallels. In Switzerland, citizens have until June 5 to make up their minds whether the principle of an unconditional basic income should be anchored in the constitution. Opinion polls suggest a clear majority will vote against it. In Finland, by contrast, where a citizens’ initiative failed to…

Food delivery on two wheels

This content was published on May 31, 2016

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