Higher living standard ? Interesting is to to compare Switzerland with the USA. In ALL decades between 1850 and 2010, the USA also per capita had more money and more income and more spending power. It looks as if Switzerland learnt something, that people in Switzerland tried to find ways between robbery capitalism and bolshevik communism, beween free bourgoisie and practiced socialism, in the words of famous Professor Schiller the free social market economy. You mention the U.K., which is a most exceedingly strange country in so far as it to all appearance, after half a century, still finds it difficult to come to terms with the fact that their nation no longer is a global empire but just a larger European country. Compare them with France. The French, in spite of also have lost a colonial empire, having had to see their language being brought down from rank one to rank two or three, their nuclear military force having become the laughing stock of half the world, managed far better to come to terms with modern times. Sure, the French conviction to be THE supreme nationality on earth whatever happens, may have helped them. But not only, actually. Their network of DomToms (Départements d'Outre Mer and Territories d'...) like Guyane Française may bolster their self-view, but most French see themselves as a major country in Western Europe.
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The Germans, having had one of the worst dictatorships of human history, having lost the war, and always being in most extreme doubts about themselves and the rest of the world, managed to become one of the most successful nations on the planet now.

"values the same as 50 years ago" ? May be, yes. But things in Switzerland are now heavily different from things in 1960. I personally think, that things have become miles better, some people, not only older ones, have another view.

I don't think the germans are very succesful, the companies are succesfull, thats true, the single german employee today has no worth at all.
About 50% of the new work contracts are limited on time basis(for one year for example), from what about the half (6 months) you are on probation and can get the termination of your contract within 2 weeks.
The wages in germany are on record low(sometimes you get about 1,50 to 3 euros per hour; happend to cleaners or hairdressers in eastern part of germany), the unemployment is on record high(currently around 4.8 million).
The taxes will rise because of the public indebtedness and the impact of the crises.Many companys doesn't pay this year the trade tax as well.
The public sector(library, public pools,... )in germany is on the way downhill because they can't manage to achieve the monthly expenses, therefore they have to rise the admission fees .
Currently new jobs are only temporary work, many people under 30 haven' t
seen an unlimited contract with her/his own eyes.
I think in many ways switzerland is a better place to live then germany.
Hopefully they don't make the same mistakes as germany at let the locust
on their labor market.
I am working very hard(same as i was in germany or more), thats one of main
reasons why I am here

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In Germany, the "worth" of employees in the 70ies and 80ies went up beyond reality for political reasons. A "record low" basically means coming down to realities. Right now, bank employees here in Zurich will tell you about their record low wages. Which means that their wages are now almost as low as those of people in transport travel tourism gastronomy have been for decades.

People in the Public sector got heavily overpaid for decades, since the times of the Adenauer adminstration. This all was affordable for a West-Germany with the fastest growth rates of Western Europe (surrounded by neighbours also having high economic growth rates)


The companies HAVE to be successful first of all. Those special work contracts (which are also around in Switzerland) simply reflect however that many companies still are struggling. The wages in Germany ? The wages of course are a victim of the re-unification. Hans-Dietrich Genscher in a TV interview back in about 1990 said that Germany would need between 20 and 30 years to digest this move in full. That in Germany, many wages get fixed on a union-level of course is to the detriment of the employees in the better-off Bundesländer. But I am sure that we are to see the former GDR becoming profitable increasingly now, and then German industry for stability sake internationally and for their sales on the home market (domestic consumption) [ not out of charitable motivations ! ] will then gradually raise wages. The trades unions then also will have more clout again



In this, Germany is not alone. In Switzerland, the taxes are not to rise as heavily as elsewhere, but the VAT within the next two decades will rise very heavily (in spite of all the politicians constantly saying the contrary) because the union, which only gets the "Bundessteuer", the former military tax, plus VAT, alcohol tax, events tax, tobacco tax and petrol tax, needs more money, as the customs duties are lowered quite in general and dropped in case of the countries of EU, EFTA, Mediterranean Partnership, etc


Libraries and Public Pools should be able to cover their costs, either by the admission fees or by secondary services like restaurants and shops. Another source of income for many such places is selling advertisement space and launching events.

A) Switzerland was far more careful in expanding the social welfare state in the 1950ies and 60ies then Germany and Scandinavia. It is amazing that Germany in the past 20 years has reduced many "items" down to Swiss level.
B) Switzerland has no Eastern formerly Communist part to integrate

According to today's newspapers record numbers of rich foreigners are becoming fed up with being pursued by their local tax authorities for tax on their Swiss money deposits & are emigrating to Switzerland.
A new Renaissance?
If true it is an interesting & unexpected side effect of turning the tax screw. All helps to reduce our taxes I suppose.

The Swiss banks now are forced to tell their customers to establish "companies" in Switzerland which will charge their "mother companies" with 'services rendered' . If you happen to be in a commune of advantage to such companies, you are to take profit.

McShane is not an independent observer. For one thing he is a left winger who would love to see Switzerland shackled under the debt mountain paying for a bribed client electorate keeping a corrupt elite in power as Britain. As an ardant marxist he takes the view that democracy is fine as long as you agree with him, and the idea of allowing the people a day to day say in politics is an anathema.

For me Switzerland is changing since I first worked here a decade ago, but it is changing along its own lines. No country is immobile but one of the things most Swiss I have met hold very dear is their right to have referendums and disctate the direction of their country. Given the abject failure of monolithic state parties elsewhere, the idea of localism and referenda holds some sympathy with me.

It is not only the rich, but middle class that are being pursued for tax more and more.

Do you lot really believe that all these "Anti Money Laundering Rules" are there to prevent terrorism? The governments love credit cards, direct debits, electronic transfers etc etc. They all help to catch the tax payer (or should we say non tax payer) out.

People are having enough of astronomical taxes to pay for the social problems of others and the mismanagement of the finances by the government and are showing this by leaving.