More and more Greeks are deciding that leaving their money in a Greek bank is not worth the risk. The Economist reported that households and private firms withdrew €24.6 billion from Greek banks between December and February. The capital controls and bank balance “haircuts” in Cyprus in 2013 set a precedent that some fear could […]
5 surprising facts about the Swiss National Bank
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) has an important job. Its failure to control inflation could erode the real value of our savings – 7% inflation over 10 years would halve the real value of a bank deposit. Likewise high inflation would most likely come with high mortgage interest rates – an 8% mortgage rate would […]
Why Geneva’s unemployment is higher than Zurich’s
Most think Switzerland has low unemployment, however, aggregate figures mask large regional differences. Underneath the overall national rate of 3.5% (February 2015), lie cantonal rates that range from 1.1% in Obwalden to 5.8% in Neuchatel. Zurich, currently at 3.6% typically hovers around the national average, while Geneva, currently at 5.6% is consistently 2% higher than […]
Path of total solar eclipse
Friday 20 March 2015, will bring a total solar eclipse to Europe. Electrical power grids across Europe will be hit by a drop in solar-produced electricity. In the European Union the drop could be as high as 34 GW. Temperatures will also drop by around 3 degrees Celsius. It will occur in the morning and […]
Swiss immigration vote re-run
The February 2014 vote showed just how divided Swiss views on immigration are. While 50.3% voted for the proposal to stop mass immigration, 49.7% voted against it. A re-run could easily undo the result – it should be noted that an exact re-run is not possible under Swiss law. While the amendment to the Swiss […]
A 5-step guide to Switzerland’s immigration changes
On 9 February 2014, Swiss voters decided by a slim majority of 50.3% to adopt new rules on immigration. The new rules now form part of the Swiss Federal constitution. The changes are broad and short on specifics. For this reason the adoption of new legislation implementing the changes is critical for clarifying the exact scope […]
CERN: Bigger bangs imminent
“What happens when the mass of the black hole eventually becomes extremely small is not quite clear, but the most reasonable guess is that it would disappear completely in a tremendous final burst of emission, equivalent to the explosion of millions of H-bombs.” – Dr. Stephen Hawking The scientists at CERN Geneva are gearing up […]
Geneva’s bread world’s third most expensive – Economist Intelligence Unit
According to the Worldwide Cost of Living 2015 survey published by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), one kilogram of bread in Geneva costs US$ 7.48. This is the third most expensive of the world’s top ten most expensive cities. Only Paris and Seoul have more expensive bread, costing US$ 8.83 and US$ 13.91 per kilogram respectively. After looking […]
First solar-powered world flight imminent
Solar impulse, the 100% sun-powered Swiss aircraft, is nearing the starting blocks of its around the world flight. After recently completing three training flights in Abu Dhabi, the start point, the team is ready and predicts take-off on 7 March 2015. Back in 2014 the Solar Impulse team, after demonstrating that they could fly their […]
Swiss referendum: replace VAT with an eco tax – Yes or No?
The latest initiative from the Liberal Green Party is a vote that aims to replace Swiss VAT with a tax on energy. The proposal would eliminate VAT and replace the revenue with a higher tax on non-renewable energy. The tax would be applied to all non-renewable energy products at percentages related to their environmental impact. […]
