Hopp Schwiiz!
By Ocean on Jun 13, 2008 in Articles of Interest, Featured
From a British point of view, but an excellent point nonetheless. The Adam Smith Institute reminds us how Switzerland has one of the highest GDP per capita in the world, one of the best health care systems and transportation systems, four different languages and 2 different religions, yet its inhabitants have had a peaceful, prosperous and upheaval-free life for centuries.
Could this be because Switzerland has a very small central government, and almost every decision is made at a local level, usually through referendum?
Read the article here.
Utility:
(6 votes, average: 9 out of 10)
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Too bad about the football though!
Swiss | Jun 15, 2008 | Reply
Most importantly, taxes in Switzerland are collected by the canton, which then sends on the Federal portion to the central government. In the US, as in France and all other centralized economies, the national government plays the part of primary fundraiser and paymaster. Richard Nixon perpetuated this practice under the guise of “revenue sharing”, in 1972. Rather than making the states more dependent on federal revenues, how much better it would have been for America if they had merely lowered federal taxes, leaving it to the states to decide when and by how much to increase their own revenues.
Senectus | Jun 16, 2008 | Reply
The one thing I’ve learned to dislike more than taxes is the people who spend them. :(
AnonyMouse | Jun 18, 2008 | Reply
Touchè, and it is easy for them to spend them because it is not their own money, after all.
With a country as large as the United States it certainly makes most sense for taxes to be administered at a regional (State) level.
Switzerland has always - since it’s founding in 1291 - been based on the idea of a distribution of power. There has never been a single ruler to the Swiss confederation, and not risking a concentration of power - from where it can more easily be abused - was the underlying principle.
Rebecca | Jun 19, 2008 | Reply