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Unconditional income could pave way for future

This content was published on May 10, 2016 According to the former Swiss government spokesman, a micro tax levied on money transactions could help finance such an unconditional income and be welcome. A “yes” vote to the initiative for an unconditional basic income would pave the way to the future of our work-oriented society. Let’s go beyond the Swiss borders and look at…

Around 40% of Swiss research is open access

This content was published on May 10, 2016 Research that is funded by public money should be made available by Open Access – so publicly and free of charge. This will involve nothing less than a complete transformation of the current publication system, the SNSF explainedExternal link in a statement on Tuesday. Internationally, there is a big drive to move scientific publications towards…

Swiss trains challenged by cheaper, faster buses

This content was published on May 10, 2016 Private long-distance bus providers have been steadily increasing their European network and passengers now have a bigger choice of how to travel in Europe. Statistics from the Swiss Federal Office of Transport show a fourfold increase over the past five years in licences awarded for routes, from 64 to 266. Customers are attracted by much…

Zug first to accept bitcoin for government services

This content was published on May 10, 2016 The Zug municipality made the decision at its meeting on May 3 and the pilot project will start from July 1 and continue until the end of 2016. Bitcoin payments up to a value of CHF200 ($205.8 or 0.44 XBT) will be accepted for standard government services. The authorities claim they want to lead by…

Panama Papers data confirms Swiss links

This content was published on May 9, 2016 More details from the so-called Panama Papers were released on Monday by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). The documents were leaked from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca. The papers show that 1,339 Swiss lawyers, financial advisors and other middlemen had set up more than 38,000 offshore entities over the last 40 years.…

Cabinet minister admits ‘political mistake’ but stands by choice

This content was published on May 9, 2016 On Friday, a Swiss newspaper revealed that Parmelin had argued in favour of fiscal benefits for farmers who sell plots of land, even though his own family could benefit from a potential change in the law. The defence minister, from the conservative right Swiss People’s Party, did not exclude himself from cabinet discussions on the…

Strong franc doesn’t deter investment

This content was published on May 9, 2016 According to consultancy firm A.T.Kearney, Switzerland is now ranked 11th in their list of the top countries in which to invest. They moved Switzerland up three spots in the Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index, saying that at a time when many regions are affected by crises, investors are looking for safe havens. The most important…

Swissair pays back millions of government loan

This content was published on May 9, 2016 The Swiss Federal Audit Office reported on Monday that it had recovered CHF220 million for the federal coffers, which formed part of a bigger federal loan made to the defunct airline in 2001. The office said for years it had challenged the use of part of the CHF1.15 billion loan made to cash-strapped Swissair to…

What Switzerland and the EU have in common – and where they differ

This content was published on May 9, 2016 The European Union has become a bit “Swisser” since April 1, 2012. Since that day more than four years ago, the 500 million citizens of the 28 member states have been able to play a direct role in the EU law-making process. The European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) is the first ever transnational law enabling direct-democratic…

US tax havens – the new Switzerland?

This content was published on May 9, 2016 In an old discount store hugging a corner in downtown Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the heirs to the William Wrigley chewing gum fortune have an office for their family trust. So do the Carlson family, owners of the Radisson hotel chain, and the family of John Nash, the late hedge fund giant. They are among…

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