The Role Model of Switzerland

Back in 2016, I shared a television program about the “Improbable Success” of Switzerland. Today, here’s a follow-up look at that “sensible country.”

There are elements to this video that are outside my area of expertise, such as the role of the reformation.

But the video mentions policies that I find very appealing, such as the country’s strong federalist system (unlike the United States, federalism hasn’t eroded).

This means jurisdictional competition, which has played a big role in curtailing bad policy.

And there was a brief indirect mention of the nation’s spending cap, which also has been a big success.

Interestingly, Switzerland’s strong track record is getting noticed in unusual places.

Here are some excerpts from a New York Times column by Ruchir Sharma.

There is…a country far richer and just as fair as any in the Scandinavian trio of Sweden, Denmark and Norway. ….with lighter taxes, smaller government, and a more open and stable economy. Steady growth recently made it the second richest nation in the world…with an average income of $84,000, or $20,000 more than the Scandinavian average. …surveys also rank this nation as one of the world’s 10 happiest. This less socialist but more successful utopia is Switzerland. …Wealth and income are distributed across the populace almost as equally as in Scandinavia, with the middle class holding about 70 percent of the nation’s assets. The big difference: The typical Swiss family has a net worth around $540,000, twice its Scandinavian peer. …Capitalist to its core, Switzerland imposes lighter taxes on individuals, consumers and corporations than the Scandinavian countries do. In 2018 its top income tax rate was the lowest in Western Europe at 36 percent, well below the Scandinavian average of 52 percent. Government spending amounts to a third of gross domestic product, compared with half in Scandinavia. And Switzerland is more open to trade, with a share of global exports around double that of any Scandinavian economy. …Only one in seven Swiss work for the government, about half the Scandinavian average. …The Swiss have become the world’s richest nation by getting it right, and their model is hiding in plain sight.

Kristian Niemietz of London’s Institute of Economic Affairs also pointed out that Switzerland is a role model.

Classical liberal ideas work. But they are usually counterintuitive, and often hard to explain. …It is therefore helpful for classical liberals if we can point to a practical example…it is Switzerland which, in many ways, represents such an example. Switzerland is not a libertarian paradise. But it is a country which, through its mere existence and its economic success, refutes a lot of…conventional wisdoms. …Take decentralisation. …the Swiss example shows that local autonomy and pluralism can be a recipe for success. In Switzerland, even tiny cantons like Glarus or Obwalden, which have far fewer inhabitants than a typical London borough, enjoy a degree of political autonomy that London, which has more inhabitants than the whole of Switzerland, can only dream of. …the Swiss system shows that a healthcare system based on choice and competition can work exceptionally well. The Swiss system offers ample choice between insurers, insurance plans, providers and delivery models. …Liberal market economists…can simply refer to the successful example of Switzerland. We can end a lot of tedious discussions by simply saying, “Of course it works – just look at Switzerland”.

Amen.

Switzerland is a great role model.

By the way, neither the video nor the two articles mentions Switzerland’s private pension system, which is another big advantage the country has over most other nations.

If you want to see a chart that illustrates Switzerland’s stunning success, this look at both life expectancy and per-capita economic output is very revealing.

The link between prosperity and longevity isn’t big news, but Switzerland’s rapid upward ascent is very remarkable.

To conclude, there are numerous reasons to rank Switzerland above the United States, at least with regard to public policy.

P.S. The video mentions that Switzerland is the closest example in the world of a direct democracy. I’m instinctively opposed to that approach, because of the dangers of majoritarianism.

That being said, Swiss voters usually vote the right way.

• In 2001, the people of Switzerland voted by a 5-1 margin in favor of a spending cap.
• In 2010, nearly 60 percent of the electorate rejected a class-warfare income tax proposal.
• In 2014, Swiss voters overwhelmingly killed a minimum-wage mandate.
• Also in 2014, the voters of Switzerland rejected single-payer healthcare by a landslide margin.
• And in 2015, more than 70 percent of voters rejected a federal death tax.
• In 2016, there was a landslide vote against a scheme to provide universal basic income.
• Earlier this year, there was another landslide vote, this time against class-warfare tax policy.

P.P.S. It wasn’t mentioned in the video, but I like that Switzerland is one of the few European nations with widespread gun ownership.

P.P.P.S. We should not be surprised that some folks in Sardinia would like to secede from Italy and join Switzerland.