The phone brand Orange Switzerland, recently bought by the French billionaire Xavier Niel, will not be around for much longer. The business, originally part of Orange S.A. in France, was acquired by Apax Partners, a private equity firm in 2012, and then eventually sold to Niel late in 2014. Now the new management have now […]
Why are Swiss voting for a new national anthem?
What makes for a good national anthem? The melody should be festive, solemn, create a sense of identity and unity around shared values and, be easy to remember. Apparently the current Swiss national anthem fails this last test. The majority of Swiss people cannot remember the Cantique Suisse, if they even know it at all. […]
Why poetry beats parenting books
These days I find I’m getting a lot of useful parenting advice from poems like The Prophet and Desiderata; poems I grew up seeing badly framed and hanging in everybody’s guest bathroom. Who knew that one day I’d honestly find them more helpful than most parenting books? And why? Well, take the example of the […]
Swiss banks swell as Greek ones empty
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 […]
Switzerland’s discount heaven
Another day in Happy Valley…with warmer weather and budding trees suggesting that spring finally is on its way. So too is the tradition of doing some spring skiing, before the thoughts of the denizens of Happy Valley turn completely from schussing down the ski-hill, to boating across Lake Leman to buy various goods in France […]
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 […]
Is Lausanne beating Geneva?
A Tale of Two Cities “Lausanne is the capital of Suisse Romande and Geneva is Geneva,” a canny observer recently remarked. The distinction is important. Geneva may be wealthier and have a greater international reputation, but Lausanne, Switzerland’s fourth largest city population-wise, often seems more dynamic. The two cities have chosen very different strategies. Geneva […]
Solar plane’s high altitude flight to China
Solar Impulse has departed on its 5th and most challenging flight to date on its round-the-world journey. It took off from Mandalay in Myanmar at 3:36am (local time) on March 30, 2015. It is bound for Chongqing in China. The anticipated flight time is 19 hours covering a distance of 1,375 kilometres. It is a […]
A Geneva taxi can cost more than your flight
Recent research shows how expensive airport taxis can be. Many people don’t include these costs in travel budgets and can often be in for a shock. Geneva is known to be an expensive destination, however the cost of a Geneva taxi compared to other cities is surprisingly high. Simon Phillips from No1 Currency, which conducted […]
Could driverless cars hit your house price?
New technology often creates financial winners and losers. Typically, the more disruptive the technology, the bigger the monetary hit. Which is why Credit Suisse has reflected on the impact that driverless cars might have on the value of our homes1. In the past, robots have assembled passenger cars, yet someday soon they could actually be […]
