A family from Geneva, who moved to France only to return to Geneva five years later, was interviewed by the Geneva newspaper GHI about their hellish experience. Unable to buy in Geneva and attracted by cheaper property in France they moved to Annecy in 2010. Shortly after their dream started to turn into a nightmare. […]
Elections: Geneva moves to the right
Over the weekend Geneva’s commune elections took place. These elections select municipal leaders and occur every five years. If a workable majority is not elected in the first round there is a second round vote, this time scheduled for 10 May 2015. According to the Tribune de Genève, 30 first round commune votes were definitive […]
Why Hollande’s France can’t copy Switzerland
Last week there was much fanfare around French president Francois Hollande’s visit to Switzerland. Mr. Hollande spoke enthusiastically about Switzerland and as reported in 24heures went as far as saying that there was much in Switzerland that France should emulate. However, despite Mr. Hollande’s enthusiastic talk there is little chance France can copy Switzerland’s model […]
Montreux Jazz 2015 already selling out
The sale of 2015 Montreux Jazz Festival tickets opened on Friday 17 April 2015 and already some evenings are sold out. Tickets to the John Legend performance on 3 July, Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett on 6 July and Sam Smith on 7 July are all no longer available online. Getting tickets to the popular […]
New law could lift Uber’s Geneva prospects
Uber’s efforts to shake up Geneva’s expensive and uncompetitive taxi market could be bearing fruit. After the canton of Geneva announced that all rides in the canton arranged via Uber were illegal, Uber responded by launching an online petition calling for the liberalization of Geneva’s taxi market. The petition has now collected 14,800 signatures and […]
How powerful is your passport?
Some passports are better than others. South Africans who travelled during the apartheid era will attest to this. To make comparisons easy, Arton Capital has created the Passport Index. The index ranks passports based on the number of countries the holder can travel to with ease. The index can be navigated via a world map, […]
Geneva’s unemployment now higher than the US
The unemployment rate in Geneva for March 2015 was 5.6%. In the United States (US) the March 2015 rate was 5.5%, 0.1% lower than in Geneva. US employment has enjoyed a remarkable turn around. Five years ago US unemployment was 9.7%. Five years ago in Geneva it was 7.3%, so the US has moved further […]
Relocation threatens jobs at the UN in Geneva
In an interview with the Swiss newspaper Le Temps, Ian Richards, the British economist who represents United Nations (UN) and UN agency staff in Geneva, speaks out about plans to relocate its employees around the globe. Ban Ki-moon the United Nations’ secretary general favours greater staff mobility and centralisation of administrative tasks via a new […]
Switzerland slips down 2015 social progress ranking
The Social Progress Index rankings are out again for another year. The ranking goes beyond GDP and includes measures of Basic Human Needs, Foundations of Wellbeing and Opportunity. The 2015 report is co-authored by Harvard professor Michael E Porter who many business school graduates will remember for his 5 forces model of competition. This year […]
Why illegal telemarketing is getting worse in Switzerland
We have all received those annoying calls. You are about to sit down to dinner and are forced to rush to a ringing phone only to find some strange salesperson trying sell you a new health insurance policy or a phone package that you don’t want. Opting out introduced In 2012, after many complaints, the […]
