Democracy is built around the idea of political candidates promising policies that voters want. A recent survey suggests there are significant differences between what Swiss voters and political candidates consider important. According to the survey run by gfs.berne based on responses collected in April and May this year, several topics that have received significant political […]
Switzerland to vote (again) on Covid laws
On the 18 June 2023, Swiss voters will be asked to accept or reject the government’s extension of the COVID-19 Act on 16 December 2022. As a precaution, Switzerland’s parliament extended the period of application of the legal provisions on certain measures in the COVID-19 Act from mid-December 2023 until mid-2024. The law enables the […]
Swiss politics: the growing youth gender divide
Since 2010, young men and women in Switzerland have moved apart politically at an accelerated pace, according to a Sotomo poll run on behalf of the newspaper NZZ am Sonntag, reported RTS. The study, which asked respondents to place themselves on a political scale between 0 and 10, with 0 being extreme left and 10 […]
Switzerland’s cantons make bigger than expected profits in 2022
In 2022, together, Switzerland’s cantons were expected to spend CHF 1.1 billion more than they brought in from taxes. Instead, they made a collective profit of CHF 3.5 billion, a positive delta of CHF 4.6 billion, reported RTS. Switzerland collects tax at three levels: municipal, cantonal and federal. Cantonal taxes are typically the largest slice. […]
54 percent of women in construction report sexual harassment in Switzerland
Women make up less than 20% of Switzerland’s construction workforce. In some fields such as metal construction, scaffolding and roofing the proportion of women is around 5%. Potential reasons for this include gender-specific conditioning and social norms and the high proportion of men in sector. A survey published this week points to other reasons. Between […]
FILM: L’IMMENSITA ***1/2
13 January 2023. By Neptune L’IMMENSITA ***1/2 (vo Italian) There’s no doubt about it, Penelope Cruz is not only an international star, but also a magnificent actress. In every one of her films, she entrances with her beauty but also with the soul she pours into the character she portrays. And so it is with […]
Chart of the week: the life expectancy gap
In Switzerland, the gap between male and female life expectancy at birth has been shrinking. However, the gap in life expectancy at the age of 65, which only emerged in 1876 has remained relatively consistent over the last two decades, according to statistics from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). Over the last 20 years it […]
Swiss government increases federal tax deductions to account for inflation
Now that inflation has returned, so has bracket creep, a situation where inflation pushes taxable income into higher tax brackets and reduces the tax busting value of deductions. To compensate, Switzerland’s federal government announced higher deductions and higher tax brackets this week. From the 2023 tax year couples with two wage earners will be able […]
Price comparison website could combat Switzerland’s inexplicably high fuel prices
Crude oil prices are now back to where they were in January 2022, but retail pump prices are now more than 20% above prices back then. Many are wondering why. Without cost transparency suspicion understandably abounds. In mid January 2022, before Russia invaded Ukraine, WTI crude oil was trading below US$ 90 a barrel. Then […]
FILM: ELVIS ***** 5 stars!
8 July 2022. By Neptune Sorry for this third edition of the same films…but it’s summer (and the living is easy…) and I am taking a little holiday. As you all are…The multiplexes are full of mediocre fare for the kids, and some bad excuses for adult entertainment, so go out to the beaches, sit […]
