Tag Archives: Editor’s Choice

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. © Sergiomonti _ Dreamstime.com - Click to enlarge In January 2018, Swiss Big Macs were still the world’s most expensive, making the Swiss...

Figures published in 2017 show that only 37% of Swiss healthcare costs were covered by basic compulsory health insurance premiums. © Ognjen Stevanovic | Dreamstime.com - Click to enlarge The remaining cost was covered by the government (20%), accident and social insurance (10%), private complementary health insurance (7%), charity (1%) and out-of-pocket spending by individuals (26%). Compulsory Swiss health insurance...

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. © Sergiomonti _ Dreamstime.com In January 2018, Swiss Big Macs were still the world’s most expensive, making the Swiss franc the most overvalued currency, 28.1% higher than it should be. The implied exchange rate is...

Figures published in 2017 show that only 37% of Swiss healthcare costs were covered by basic compulsory health insurance premiums. © Ognjen Stevanovic | Dreamstime.com The remaining cost was covered by the government (20%), accident and social insurance (10%), private complementary health insurance (7%), charity (1%) and out-of-pocket spending by individuals (26%). Compulsory Swiss health insurance requires policy holders to pay 10% of the first CHF 7,000 of costs reimbursed 1. In...

In a report published today entitled: rents losing altitude, UBS says asking rents for apartments will probably drop by up to 10% over the next three years. © Rosshelen | Dreamstime.com - Click to enlarge Competition in the rental market is getting even fiercer. By mid-2017, 2.4% of all rental apartments were vacant. This level was last exceeded in 1998, when 2.8% of rental apartments stood empty, says the bank. Higher...

In a report published today entitled: rents losing altitude, UBS says asking rents for apartments will probably drop by up to 10% over the next three years. © Rosshelen | Dreamstime.com Competition in the rental market is getting even fiercer. By mid-2017, 2.4% of all rental apartments were vacant. This level was last exceeded in 1998, when 2.8% of rental apartments stood empty, says the bank. Higher rental vacancy rates, expected to hit an all time high of 3% in 2019, are driving down rents,...

Switzerland is made up of 26 cantons – technically six are half cantons1 – each with its own distinct taxes, education system, hospitals and government. © Anna Hristova | Dreamstime.com Land area varies significantly, from 37 sq/km Basel-Stadt to 7,105 sq/km Graubünden. Population is also highly varied, from tiny Appenzell Innerrhoden (16k) up to Zurich with nearly 1.5 million. Unsurprisingly, the range of economic output is wide too. Ranging from Zurich (141 billion) down to Appenzell...

According to Le Matin, economists at Swiss Life think the rise of the Swiss franc is over and predict it will weaken to 1.22 to the euro by the end of the year. © Valeriya Potapova _ Dreamstime.com At the same time they point to risks that could send the currency in the opposite direction, such as the election in Italy, Brexit negotiations and uncertainty surrounding government in Germany. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) abandoned its Swiss-franc-euro exchange rate cap of 1.20 in 2015 under...

According to Le Matin, economists at Swiss Life think the rise of the Swiss franc is over and predict it will weaken to 1.22 to the euro by the end of the year. © Valeriya Potapova _ Dreamstime.com At the same time they point to risks that could send the currency in the opposite direction, such as the election in Italy, Brexit negotiations and uncertainty surrounding government in Germany. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) abandoned its Swiss-franc-euro exchange rate cap of 1.20 in 2015 under...

In 2016, around 273,000 people, 3.3% of the population, received welfare in Switzerland. The number (not the rate) was 2.9% higher than the year before and 15.7% higher than 5 years earlier when the rate was 3.0%. Neuchâtel, the canton with the highest rate of beneficiaries © Olga Demchishina | Dreamstime.com Rates of those receiving government aid varied significantly by canton, ranging from 0.8% in Appenzell Innerrhoden to 7.4% in Neuchâtel. Other cantons with higher than average rates...