le News

This week, Switzerland moved closer to requiring minimum percentages of women on company boards and management teams. © Cecilia Lim | Dreamstime A parliamentary commission came out in support of the Federal Council’s plan to require greater gender balance in the boardrooms of Switzerland’s large listed companies. A commission majority (14 versus 11) would like to see a minimum of 30% of board members and 20% of the management of these companies made up of each gender – a 100% female boardroom...

According to the newspaper NZZ am Sonntag, Switzerland’s federal government wants to allow Switzerland’s residents to claim for drugs bought abroad. Prices across the border are generally far lower. © Mike Clegg | Dreamstime As recently as March 2017, the government told insurers that anyone buying medicines abroad would have to pay for them out of their own pockets. Now they appear to be reconsidering. The NZZ said that drugs with expired patents cost on average 61% more in Switzerland than...

At the end of September the Swiss government announced an average nationwide health premium rise of 4% in 2018. © Pogonici | Dreamstime This government calculation is rather narrow. It only looks at the price of standard compulsory insurance, including accident cover, for an adult with a CHF 300 deductible. Price comparison site bonus.ch calculates that this policy configuration only applies to 18.3% of residents. When all available policy variations are included the average rise is 5.1%....

While Bitcoin bulls will probably never have it so good as they have in 2017, we wonder whether many of them have stopped to think about the environmental downside of this roaring bull market. After all, back in the dot.com boom, people had ideas about potential internet businesses, issued pieces of paper representing ownership and watched their prices go parabolic parabolic. All it took was a Powerpoint presentation, some computer programming expertise and a “research” report,...

Authored by Ryan McMaken via The Mises Institute, In a recent interview with Mises Weekends, Claudio Grass examined some of the advantages of the Swiss political system, and how highly decentralized politics can bring with it great economic prosperity, more political stability, and a greater respect for property rights.  Since the Swiss political system of federalism is itself partially inspired by 19th-century American federalism, the average American can usually imagine in...

As next year’s health premium bills find their way into Swiss mail or email boxes, the reality of another round of price increases starts to bite. © Blondsteve | Dreamstime Earlier this week, Switzerland’s Federal Council unveiled 38 measures that will be considered as part of a plan to tackle Switzerland’s rising health costs. A final plan will be presented next spring, according to 20 Minutes. A number of measures, such as the option of seeking treatment abroad, have already been...

64% of those surveyed in a recently published study, say they are bothered by their neighbours. Some are driven to take legal action while others pack up and leave. © Fizkes | Dreamstime Noise was the most widespread complaint. 28% complained of this. Loud conversations, noisy children, banging, loud music and parties were the most frequent noise problems. Other sources of conflict included hostility (16%), inconsiderate smoking – on balconies and in communal areas (14%), and communal laundry...

64% of those surveyed in a recently published study, say they are bothered by their neighbours. Some are driven to take legal action while others pack up and leave. © Fizkes | Dreamstime Noise was the most widespread complaint. 28% complained of this. Loud conversations, noisy children, banging, loud music and parties were the most frequent noise problems. Other sources of conflict included hostility (16%), inconsiderate smoking – on balconies and in communal areas (14%), and communal laundry...

by Dominic Frisby of Money Week Every year, Ronald-Peter Stoeferle and Mark J Valek of investment and asset management company Incrementum put together the report In Gold We Trust – 160-plus pages of charts and thoughts, mostly gold-related, on the state of the world’s finances. There’s so much to look at and consider. It’s a sort of digital equivalent of a coffee-table book. Yesterday I got an email from them, containing a “best of” – a compendium of some of the best...

On Wednesday, Switzerland’s Federal Council said it would stand behind the country’s winter Olympic bid to the tune of nearly one billion francs, according to newspaper 20 Minutes. © Erix2005 | Dreamstime The town of Sion, in Valais, is throwing its Olympic hat into the ring as the centerpiece for the 2026 winter games. Other cantons would also host certain events. In autumn 2019, a choice will be made between Sion, and other possible contenders, including Innsbruck (Austria), Calgary...