According to Swiss broadcaster RTS, Swiss retailer Coop, along with five other members of AgeCore SA, a Geneva-based purchasing alliance, have decided to boycott a large number of Nestlé products in the hope of striking a better deal on price. Sales to AgeCore SA members, which include Coop in Switzerland, Intermarché in France, Edeka in […]
Roger Federer becomes oldest world number one
The 36-year-old Swiss tennis player beat Robin Haase in the Rotterdam Open to replace 31-year-old Rafael Nadal at the top of the ranking. .@rogerfederer rewrites history in Rotterdam: With his victory today, Federer has now surpassed Andre Agassi to become the oldest World No. 1 in ATP history! ?????1️⃣ ?: #USOpen pic.twitter.com/3ROFU0wfao — US Open […]
Vaud – vote on divisive dental tax and care plan
On 4 March 2018, voters in Vaud will vote on a plan to provide basic universal dental care funded by a tax on salaries. The initiative entitled: Reimbursement of dental care, Pour le remboursement des soins dentaires in French, claims that 10% of the population avoid the dentist because of the cost. They also claim links […]
Switzerland tops latest financial secrecy index
While Switzerland isn’t the most financially secretive nation in the Tax Justice Network’s recently published report, its combination of size and secrecy pushed it into first place, the worst rank in the Financial Secrecy Index 2018. Size is factored in because it measures the damage a nation’s financial secrecy has on the world, says The Tax […]
Ticket cheats in Switzerland soon to be listed in a national register
Tickets cannot be bought on public transport in Switzerland. Passengers are required to have a ticket before commencing their journey. Those caught on public transport without one will soon have their names put into a national register. This will ensure progressively higher fines are issued to repeat offenders. The new database will be rolled out […]
Swiss cross-border shopping not always worth it, says study
In 2015, Swiss residents made 24 million shopping trips abroad. The average Swiss-based cross-border shopper travelled 69 kilometres to shop in a neighbouring country, 55 kilometres further than they did when shopping in Switzerland, according to a study published by Credit Suisse. Credit Suisse calculated that, on average, a cross-border shopper would need to spend […]
Push to extend shop opening hours to 8pm in Geneva
The Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) in Geneva wants shopping hours in Geneva to be standardized and extended. In general, French-speaking Switzerland has stricter laws on opening hours that the rest of Switzerland. For example a Migros store in Zurich is open until 9pm every night except Sunday. A similar store in Geneva is only open until […]
Income inequality in Switzerland remains stable after redistribution
Income inequality in Switzerland has remained stable according to a report published by Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office. A key measure of inequality involves dividing the income share of the top 20% by that of the bottom 20%, a measure known as S80/S20. 1 is complete equality. In 2015, the latest figure, the S80/S20 for Switzerland […]
New poll on vote to axe Swiss broadcast fee suggests rejection
A poll run by the media group Tamedia shows a clear majority in favour of rejecting the initiative, dubbed “No Billag”, which aims to end Switzerland’s broadcasting fee. This poll follows one done in December 2017, which showed a majority in favour of the initiative. In December 57% were either fully or quite in favour […]
Budget busting burgers – Swiss franc still the most overvalued
The Economist has just published its January 2018 Big Mac index, a light-hearted measure of whether currencies are under or overvalued. The underlying assumption is that a Big Mac is the same whether bought in Kiev or Chur, so any price difference must be due to the exchange rate. In January 2018, Swiss Big Macs […]
