What makes Switzerland such a rich country? (updated)
The reason Switzerland is such a rich country, in my opinion, is the structure of its government. In most countries, the emphasis is on the FEDERAL government, in Switzerland, their Member States called Cantons have far more autonomy than you’ll observe in other parts of the world. The closest thing to a Swiss Democracy is the United States, and oddly enough, both the United States and the Swiss have the most respected central banks and fiat currencies.
If you want a rich country, never allow the Federal Government to rule like dictators
Don’t mistake my praise for Switzerland; it’s not a perfect country, but when a country allows the FEDERAL government to yield tremendous powers, it leads to ECONOMIC destruction, whereas when States, Provinces, and/Cantons have the power to keep their federal governments in check, it doesn’t allow dictator like rules to dominate the LOCAL economy.
The Federal government often does not have a pulse of what’s happening in a municipality or State, so if, as an example, a Prime Minister of the Country creates a FEDERAL mandate that is NOT popular in some areas of the country, the Federal government is LIMITED to what it can enforce on the entire country. What this equates to is bad ideas not being allowed to flourish countrywide.
State Rights/Cantons and Canada’s Federal–Provincial Arrangements Act
In the United States as an example, during the periods of 2020 and 2022, the State of Florida flourished economically while most parts of America suffered; this happened primarily because the U.S FEDERAL government, which had anti-economic-growth policies, which it could NOT impose ALL of on the State of Florida.
On the flipside to this is a country like Canada, in which their Federal government using laws like “the Federal–Provincial Arrangements Act,” would be able to PUNISH a prosperous State like Florida, by redistributing that States wealth to States/Provinces that enforced terrible economic policies.
When the Federal government is allowed to redistribute wealth, it allows terrible POLITICAL and economic ideas to flourish; In Switzerland, you’ll notice how hard it is to know who the President of the country is; that’s because of their STRUCTURE of government which deemphasizes the importance of a federal leader.
Federal government overreach doesn’t exist in Switzerland the way it exists in most nations, and this leads to Switzerland being the wealthiest democracy on the planet.
Price Controls and Central Banks!
Modern Fiat money is based on the SOUNDNESS of democracy; the Swiss to date have built such a beautiful democracy that their central bank has to enact policies to DISCOURAGE people from hoarding Swiss Francs. If you’re wondering why the Swiss central bank does this, it’s because there are SOCIALIST Cantons in Switzerland; if you know anything about socialism as an economic system, you’d know its reliance on a DEBASED currency for trade purposes.
Socialists often fight for price controls and unearned benefits for the unproductive; well, if the Swiss Franc were allowed to rise to its true value, a lot of the socialists in Switzerland would be exposed as the economic idiots they are, voters of socialism would likely lose their public benefits and possibly their businesses if the Swiss Central bank did not exist.
Price controls can undermine wages; if branches of the government fix the wages and the economy deflates(which is inevitable at times), businesses would either go bankrupt or have to fire unproductive employees; this is where the central bank steps in to fight the foreign exchange markets from pricing the Swiss Franc to what could be its actual value in the global marketplace.
As I said, don’t imagine Switzerland as a perfect country, I’m merely writing this post, so you understand why it’s wealthier than other Western Nations.
Interesting times ahead!