Category Archive: 3) Swiss Markets and News

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Swiss Federal Council rejects two votes on pension reform

2021-11-28

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2021-11-28

This week, the Federal Council rejected two very different initiatives aimed at changing the state pension system. In common with much of the developed world, Switzerland is facing a large gap between the money required to fund state pensions and the money flowing in to pay for them, a challenge driven by increasing life expectancy, a rise in the number of pensioners as the population ages and the way the system is funded.

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Stable income but higher taxes for Swiss households

2021-11-27

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2021-11-27

The average private household in Switzerland spent about 31% of its income on taxes, social security and health insurance premiums in 2019.

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How Play Suisse made waves among the streamers

2021-11-26

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2021-11-26

In a little over a year Play Suisse, the streaming service of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC), has become a major player in the Swiss digital landscape, surpassing platforms like Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video. Critic Max Borg looks at the strengths and weaknesses of Play Suisse and its rivals.

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Geldcast Update: Lessons from interest rate problems

2021-11-25

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2021-11-25

The Australian central bank is being attacked by the markets and is losing control over interest rates. Something similar happened to the Swiss National Bank in 2015 with the minimum exchange rate for the euro. But what is behind this?

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A just democracy is a robust democracy

2021-11-24

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Polarisation, social divisions, distrust and inequality: How can people in democracies push back against the negative dynamics emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic? At the International Forum Zofingen, SWI swissinfo.ch asked international and Swiss democracy experts for some answers to some fundamental challenges facing today's democracies. This includes perspectives from Matt Qvortrup, Coventry University/UK, Estefania Cuero, diversity...

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Moving up in the world: could you work from home in the Alps?

2021-11-23

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2021-11-23

During the pandemic, some skiers have been doing just that. But does the romantic vision tally with the reality? It was in May, while hiking along the forest trails and waterfalls of La Tièche, with views towards the snow-dusted peaks of the Matterhorn and Mont Blanc, that fitness coach Jessica Z Christensen decided to spend more time in the Swiss mountains.

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How the bubble house movement took hold in Switzerland

2021-11-22

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2021-11-22

Swiss architects were swept up in the movement to build bubble houses out of concrete and plastic in the 1960s. While the bubble movement burst decades ago, many of the original structures are still standing to this day.

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How the pandemic has widened inequalities in Swiss watchmaking

2021-11-21

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2021-11-21

Driven by strong Chinese demand, Swiss watchmaking is recovering after suffering one of its biggest economic shocks in 2020. But the crisis has further widened the gap between the few brands that take the lion’s share of the profits and the rest of the industry.

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Lights out – Geneva to cut lights to save electricity

2021-11-20

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2021-11-20

This week, the government of the canton of Geneva changed a law to require non residential buildings, with some exceptions, to switch off their lights at night between 1am and 6am.

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Swiss government moots international monetary assistance

2021-11-19

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2021-11-19

The government seeks to renew its policy to support assistance measures by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It asked parliament to approve plans to continue international monetary cooperation to the tune of CHF10 billion ($10.8 billion) by 2028.The existing legal basis expires in April 2023, according to officials.

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UBS celebrates 50 years in Singapore, as a window to the world, connecting people and ideas

2021-11-18

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2021-11-18

UBS is celebrating 50 successful years in Singapore with the official opening of its largest Asia Pacific office at 9 Penang Road.

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Call to tap potential of professional working women

2021-11-17

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2021-11-17

Women make up half of the highly skilled workforce in Switzerland, but work fewer hours, according to a study published on Tuesday. One in three would like to work more, under certain conditions.

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The latest wave of covid-19 is harrowing German-speaking countries

2021-11-16

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2021-11-16

Nov 15th 2021BERLIN“IT IS TERRIFYING, all the arguments and measures to persuade the unvaccinated to get the jab are simply ignored,” said Manfred Güllner, head of Forsa, a German pollster. The cause of his consternation? In a recent Forsa survey, 65% of the 3,048 unvaccinated Germans polled said they would “definitely” not get a covid-19 jab in the next two months.

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Improving conditions for Swiss nurses

2021-11-15

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Swiss nurses are calling for better working conditions in an initiative being put to the vote on November 28. It was launched by the Alliance of Healthcare Professions, grouping more than 10 professional and trade union organisations. The Alliance wants the government and the cantons to beef up nurse training and guarantee certain working conditions and salary rates. The government says the initiative goes too far. --- swissinfo.ch is the...

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Switzerland’s fastest and slowest growth cantons

2021-11-15

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2021-11-15

This week, Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office published the latest cantonal GDP figures. Switzerland’s overall GDP growth in 2019 was 1.2%. However there were wide cantonal differences.

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Multinationals and the mirage of paying their fair share of tax

2021-11-14

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2021-11-14

Companies come to Switzerland for tax reasons all the time. Should that be illegal? Jessica covers the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to big global companies and their impact in Switzerland and abroad.

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Google admits defeat in disputed Swiss cloud tender

2021-11-13

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2021-11-13

The Swiss federal authorities can proceed with awarding a cloud computing contract to five US and Chinese companies, including Amazon, Microsoft and Alibaba, after Google dropped an appeal against the decision to leave it out of the project.

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Covid certificate – keep it or ditch it?

2021-11-12

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Is the Covid certificate worth keeping? A vote on 28 November 2021 will decide. The Swiss will be asked whether they accept laws passed earlier this year that paved the way for the introduction of the certificate. The system provides proof of vaccination, recovery or a negative test. It’s the second time a vote has been organised to challenge the government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. In summer, voters were given a chance to reverse the...

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Geneva-Lausanne train link remains suspended

2021-11-12

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2021-11-12

The holes were caused by tunneling work under the tracks carried out by a private company, which was working on a thermal energy project using water from Lake Geneva to heat an industrial zone not far from the train line. Keystone / Jean-christophe Bott The main rail link between Geneva and Lausanne in southwestern Switzerland will not re-open until Friday morning, Swiss Federal Railways (SBB/CFF) has confirmed. The line has been suspended since...

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American farmers pursue Syngenta over herbicide’s link to Parkinson’s disease

2021-11-11

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2021-11-11

The Swiss-based multinational has already set aside $187.5 million (CHF 171 million) to settle legal cases filed by farmers exposed to paraquat. But the total bill could run into billions as lawsuits pile up.

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